Until the Sun Doesn't Rise
by BellaGiornata
Summary: It's been six months since Calista left Sam and Dean to make a new life with a bunch of hunters. She wanted to be normal, or at least as close as she could get to it. But when Sam gets his soul back, everything changes. Sam/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, as great as that would be.**

**Also, this story was posted at the beginning of the year under this same username on a different site in case it sounds familiar to anyone. I'm posting it here, but I'm going through and re-editing/re-doing each part to make it better. That said, enjoy!**

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><p>"What's up with you?"<p>

I glanced up briefly as I tossed my car keys into the cabinet drawer along with the keys to all my other roommates' cars.

"Nothing," I lied, pushing back hair that fell in my face as I bent down to slip off my shoes. "Long night at the bar, that's all."

Bethany shot me a look that said she didn't entirely believe me.

"Why is it so quiet?" I asked, hoping to change the subject, "Where is everyone?"

"Matt and Vick took Lily out on a hunt since she said she'd been feeling useless for a few weeks. They're somewhere in Indiana by now I'm sure. Of course, Megan without Matt equals upset so she's off somewhere sulking. I offered to go out with her but she wanted to be alone." Bethany shrugged before turning and opening the fridge.

"Anything good?" I asked, gesturing towards the fridge before I unpinned my nametag from my shirt.

"We have leftover pizza. Want me to heat some up while you change?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," I told her, heading down the hallway to my room. Technically I shared it with Bethany though, so it wasn't entirely my room. The six of us hunters lived in the house together. It was a nice three bedroom house, mine and Bethany's room on the first floor while the other two bedrooms were up on the second floor. At least Beth and I got our own bathroom instead of sharing with the couples. And it was nice having a whole other level between us and all the late night sounds coming from their separate rooms.

Vick's cat was lying on my bed as usual when I walked in. I swear she liked me more than him. I rubbed her head affectionately and said a few words in greeting before stripping out of my work clothes and throwing on sweatpants and a baggy shirt. It's not like I was trying to impress anyone.

_Not like he could ever care again_, the thought stung me.

I grabbed my cell phone and opened to the missed call list again. For awhile I stood there, staring at the number that'd called me right before my shift ended.

Dean Winchester.

After everything that happened about six months ago, I couldn't bring myself to call him back. Even though he'd been a brother to me growing up and looking out for me like he did with Sam, he knew I wanted nothing to do with him and Sam again. Especially Sam.

My heart twisted at the memory and I tossed my phone back onto my bed, taking a deep breath to compose myself before heading back out to the kitchen.

"You sure you're alright, Calista?"

I sat down at the table where Beth had set the pizza she'd warmed up for me. "Yeah, totally. Just tired, like I said."

Bethany stood there with her arms across her chest, scrutinizing me. It was a few minutes before she finally spoke up.

"Look, I know you've only been here six months, but I like to think we've bonded. And I'd like to think I know you pretty well, which means I know when something's up. And honey, something's up."

I looked up at her and couldn't help but smile at the look on her face. She always worked things out fast and caught on quick. I've never been able to hide anything from her; she's too good at reading body language. I always envied that.

"Dean called me," I finally spit out.

Her face fell. "What'd he want?"

"I didn't answer; it was while I was at work. I don't think I'm going to call back either."

"What if he calls again?"

"I'll ignore it," I told her, taking a bite of the pizza.

She sighed and I knew she was going to press it further. "What if it's important?"

"Like what?" I shot, harsher than I intended to. "I told him when I left that I couldn't deal with all of that anymore."

"You told him you wouldn't hunt with him unless he wasn't with Sam. Maybe he left him?"

I shook my head. "Dean would never part with his brother, no matter how screwed up he is now without a soul."

"Maybe he finally got tired of dealing with it all. Sam sounds pretty heartless from what you've told me."

"No, Dean would never leave him. He'd spend the rest of his life trying to find a way to fix him before he'd ever give up." I shook my head trying not to cry as I remembered the last time I'd seen Sam. "I should have noticed sooner."

Beth gave me a sad smile from across the kitchen. "You couldn't have known, Cal. Even Dean didn't know at first," she said, making her way over to the empty chair at the table across from me.

"What's worse is, I still love him," I admitted, setting the pizza down and losing my appetite. I felt the sting of tears behind my eyes. "I mean, not the soulless Sam, but Sammy. The one I grew up with. The one who had my back for everything. And when I saw him back, when Dean showed up with him that day after everything that had happened, I thought 'Here's my chance. I shouldn't waste it.'" I ran a hand through my hair, feeling my stomach churn. Tears were brimming now, I could feel them. "I thought I had him back, Beth. I thought I was given the second chance I'd been praying for a year for."

She gave me a sympathetic smile and reached across the table to hold my left hand. "You have to let this go. He's not Sam, and he might never be again."

I nodded softly. "I know, I know. But part of me doesn't want to."

"You should call Dean," Beth said after a moment.

I raised an eyebrow at her as she stood and exited the room. She came back in with my phone and I felt myself becoming a little angry.

"I don't want to know what he has to say."

"Don't you though?" Beth said, holding the phone out to me.

I stared at her then at my phone in her hand. With a huff I gave in and took it from her. Deep down I was curious.

I dialed Dean's number and nervously held the phone to my ear as I waited for him to answer.

"Cali?" the familiar deep voice asked on the other end of the phone.

It took me a minute to respond. It had been so long since we'd last spoken.

"Yeah, it's me," I said softly, all the anger disappearing just as fast as it'd came. "You called earlier?"

"Yeah," Dean answered, "I have some news I thought you'd want to hear."

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for something horrible.

"I did a favor for Death-"

"The Horseman?" I shouted into the phone, upset and scared all at once. How stupid could this guy be?

"Relax, I had leverage," Dean said with that easy tone of his which caused me to roll my eyes, "He did me a favor. For Sam."

"Dean, I don't think-"

"Calm down, let me finish. He got Sam's soul back, Cas even checked. Thing is, he's been out for days."

I sat in silence taking everything in. Sam was back? My Sammy? I didn't know what to say.

"Cali? You still there?"

"Yes," I answered barely above a whisper. "Is he...okay? Is he going to wake up?"

Dean paused this time and I could feel how hard the past few months had been on him through the tangible silence.

"I don't know. I hope so. I can't lose my brother again."

"Oh, Dean, I'm sorry I left like I did. It wasn't fair to you," I told him, feeling awful as I listened to him on the phone.

"I get why you did. It was hard for me to even be with him. He really hurt you, I know, but that wasn't really Sam. I called because...I wanted you to come back. I know when he wakes up he's going to want you to be here."

I looked over at Beth who had a hopeful look on her face.

"Where are you?" I asked finally, seeing Beth's face light up at my question.

"Bobby's. Please come, Cali."

I took in a shaky breath before exhaling. "I will. I'll leave in the morning, first thing."

"There's one other tiny detail," Dean added hesitantly.

"What?" I asked cautiously, afraid of what Dean would consider a 'tiny detail'.

"Well, Death had to put up a wall in Sam's mind to block him from all the memories of Hell and being in the cage. Death doesn't know how long it'll work or what those memories could do to him if the wall breaks. Sam can't know what's happened since he's been back. Promise me you won't tell him anything."

"I promise, Dean. I'll be there soon."


	2. Chapter 2

Morning came quick, the sun shining through the curtains in my room. I rubbed my eyes hoping to wake myself up more. I had barely slept all night. I was anxious to see Sam despite what had happened the last time I'd seen him.

_That wasn't really Sam_, I reminded myself bitterly. _Sam would never do that to me._

I sat up, my muscles sore from the double shifts I'd been working for weeks at the bar. I'd have to call up my boss later today when the place opened and let him know what was going on. I knew he wouldn't mind, he was a fellow hunter himself. He knew the life.

I quickly hopped in the shower without waking Beth and was out in minutes. I didn't spend too much time with my hair, letting the brunette strands just fall straight down. I threw on make up and some clothes before rushing out to the kitchen. Since I already had an emergency bag of clean clothes, snacks, and weapons always in my car I just threw on my boots and grabbed my keys. I glanced at my cell phone as I unlocked the door to my car. It was only seven thirty, with some luck I'd be at Bobby's later in the day. If I didn't make too many stops and drove fast enough, I could probably be there in ten hours.

I threw on some music in an attempt to calm my nerves. I felt uneasy and excited all at once. I was trying not to get my hopes up in fear that Sam would most likely still be out when I showed up.

When one rolled around I decided to call up my boss, Charlie, and inform him of why I wouldn't be in work later. He told me to be careful on the drive but of course he didn't mind me having to randomly take off.

"It's in our job description," he'd joked, "We don't get to have stability or normality."

The time dragged on slowly as I drove for hours, my leg was getting a cramp from the way I'd been sitting for so long. I only stopped for gas a couple times, ignoring the growling of my stomach. Eating could wait, I was already so close to Bobby's place I didn't want to waste anymore time.

About the time six rolled around I pulled up at Bobby's, noticing the Impala sitting by it's lonesome. I parked my car and sat inside, closing my eyes and trying to mentally prepare myself for whatever happened next. I inhaled deeply and then exhaled a long, shaky breath. I could do this.

I got out of my car and made my way up to the front door where Bobby was already waiting with a shot glass in his hands. I drank back the holy water and handed him the glass, noting the gloomy look in his eyes. I assumed that meant Sam was still out.

"Follow me," Bobby said quietly as he lead the way towards the kitchen.

My eyes scanned the house littered with Bobby's usual untidiness as we walked. Books were strewn about and papers were scattered in various places. I noticed some dirty glasses here and there.

Suddenly, I heard two voices coming from the room ahead of us and my heart started racing in my chest. I could make out Dean's voice, happy and light. He hadn't sounded like that in so long. It sounded as if he was cracking some smartass joke, and then I heard two laughs. I recognized Dean's before I recognized the second. It had been so long since I'd heard it.

Sam.

My heart lurched and my stomach was in knots. It was him, I knew that laugh. I could even picture that smile of his and the dimples that accompanied it.

Once I entered the kitchen the laughter stopped immediately. Bobby stepped over by the counter, leaning against it as if he'd been there the whole time. Dean paused with his beer midway to his lips, his eyes still partially creased with the smile on his face. Sam had dropped the sandwich in his hands onto the plate in front of him, staring at me wide-eyed. His smile fell and was replaced with a look of shock.

Apparently Dean hadn't mentioned my arrival, probably thinking I wouldn't come.

"Lis?" Sam's voice called out, breaking the silence.

The name sounded so good coming out of his mouth. It had been a year and a half since anyone had called me that. My heart was fluttering in my chest.

"Sammy?" I choked out, tears forming in my eyes. All memories of the last time I'd seen him left me and I was suddenly in a whirl. I just wanted to run into his arms and never let him go.

He pushed the chair out abruptly and rose to his full height, which seemed taller than I remembered. He took two quick strides before he pulled me into a tight embrace. I squeezed my arms tightly around his waist before burying my head against his chest.

I inhaled deeply, unable to hold back the urge. He smelled exactly like I remembered.

"Is it really you, Sammy?" I whispered into his shirt.

He chuckled softly into my hair, the warmth of his breath tickling me. "Who else would it be?"

So he didn't know, like Dean had said.

He pulled me away at arms length and I noticed his eyes tearing up. One of his thumbs wiped across my cheeks wiping away stray tears I hadn't realized were falling.

That's when he did the unthinkable. No one in the room saw it coming. He lifted his other hand so both were on my cheeks and he pulled me into a passionate kiss.

I didn't respond at first, shocked at the gesture. I didn't know what had brought this on, but moments later I was moving my lips with his, not even caring about what Dean might say after. I had wanted this for so long, not like the time we kissed when he wasn't really Sam.

I wrapped my arms tighter around his waist, not wanting to let him go. Eventually he pulled away and just stared into my eyes. I felt like my knees were going to give out and I was having a hard time steadying my heart. The kiss was what I'd always thought it'd be.

I glanced over at the table to see Dean grinning wildly.

"Do I get a hello like that now?" Dean joked as he stood up and engulfed me in a large bear hug. "I missed you squirt."

"I missed you, too, Dean," I mumbled back into his shoulder.

He pulled away and I joined the two back at the table, Bobby handing me a plate with a sandwich on it too.

"Figured you wouldn't have stopped to eat on the drive here," he said to me, a smile on his face but the gloomy look still in his eyes. I'd have to ask Dean about that.

"Guessed right. I'm starved," I said, biting viciously into the sandwich like Sam was doing now. It was an odd sight, Sam never really tore into food like that.

"Feels just like old times," Dean muttered across the table, eyeing the two of us with a happy smile on his face.

I smiled back at him but it fell when Bobby made some sort of a huffing sound and made an excuse to head outside. I shot Dean a look and he shook his head.

That didn't stop Sam from asking though.

"What's up with him?"

"Just got some things on his mind, don't worry," Dean reassured Sam with a forced smile.

Sam eyed his brother curiously, obviously not buying the line.

"You should get some sleep," Dean told his brother once he finished his food.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted. That's probably a good idea," Sam said, rising from his chair.

He grabbed his plate and was going to bring it to the sink but I grabbed his hand and shook my head.

"I'll get it," I told him. "Just go rest."

His gaze held mine for a moment, a small smile playing along his lips, before he thanked me and went up to the guestroom.

I waited until I was sure he was out of earshot before I turned to Dean.

"Bobby?" I asked with a raised brow.

Dean sighed and the happy expression left completely.

"Ten days ago, Sam that didn't have a soul tried to kill him," he told me barely above a whisper.

The words made me feel sick. "What? Why?"

Dean rubbed a hand over his face before answering. "He heard about what might happen if he got his soul back. About there only being a wall to block out the memories and no one knew if it would work or for how long it will. We don't know what happens when it breaks either." He paused and fiddled with his beer bottle. "You know how he was Calista. He looked out for himself, he was overly rational. If he killed us, he wouldn't have to chance being killed."

"But that's no-"

Dean raised a hand and shook his head. "I'm not saying I agree with what he did or that it didn't upset me. But that wasn't really Sammy. He is now, but I understand that Bobby is still having a hard time letting the incident go."

I nodded in understanding before grabbing Sam's half empty beer bottle and taking a sip of it. The smile returned to Dean's face again suddenly.

"What?"

"How was it?" Dean asked with a quirky grin on his face.

I raised an eyebrow at Dean like he was crazy. "What are you talking about?"

"You really think I'm not going to say anything after watching my brother shove his tongue down your throat in front of me?"

I felt my cheeks burning up and I looked down at the bottle in my hands.

"A girl can hope," I mumbled, embarrassed.

"Don't pretend you didn't like it."

I laughed a little. "I can't say I didn't."

Dean stretched back in his chair, crossing his arms behind his head with a proud smile on his face. "Didn't think ol' Sammy boy had it in him."

I rolled my eyes at Dean and kicked him under the table.

His face turned serious quicker than I'd ever seen it do so before.

"Calista, I'm really glad you came back," Dean admitted.

I smiled at him warmly. "You're like a brother to me, Dean. Deep down I knew I couldn't stay away for long."

"Especially from Sam," he added with a little wink, his teasing demeanor returning just as fast as it'd left.

I giggled lightly and gave him another good kick under the table before cleaning up the mess of dishes.

"Especially from Sam," I repeated under my breath.


	3. Chapter 3

The sun sank and night had come without me even noticing. It was getting late and Sam hadn't woken up at all since he'd left to rest. Bobby, Dean and I had ate a late dinner while discussing a hunt they'd come across that dealt with a crashed plane and some missing girls. I tried to listen, but it'd been a few months since my last hunt. I was having a hard time getting back into the swing of it all. Even though I'd been working for a hunter at a bar hunters frequented, not to mention living with five other hunters, I had spent the last almost six months trying to pretend I was normal.

"You can have the other guestroom," Dean announced as he dried the last glass from dinner.

Opening the drain in the sink, I watched the soapy water disappear. I glanced over my shoulder into the other room watching Bobby drinking out of his glass and staring at the TV. He had been mildly more talkative with Sam nowhere to be found all evening, but he was still a bit off.

"Where are you going to sleep?" I asked, turning back to Dean.

"Couch," he said with a shrug.

I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off.

"You had a long drive, and I'd feel bad if you were on the couch anyway."

"Well," I mumbled, covering a yawn before continuing. "I think I'll hit the hay if we plan on starting this hunt tomorrow morning."

"Long drive ahead of us, you're going to need the sleep," Dean agreed.

"Goodnight, Dean."

"G'night Cali."

I made my way past the living room and noticed Bobby was now dozing in his chair. I smiled before grabbing my bag of clothes and necessities that had been left at the foot of the staircase. I'd pulled it from the trunk of my car earlier. I climbed the stairs slowly, running my fingers over the banister. I had really missed being here, even if I hadn't missed the constant near death experiences of hunting.

I changed in the bathroom quickly, slipping on some shorts and a somewhat baggy shirt, before heading back into the guest room I was sleeping in. Once my head hit the pillow I was out.

My eyes shot open, darkness filling the room. I couldn't really make anything out in the pitch black, but I heard faint creaking sounds heading down the hall towards my room. I felt my breath catch in my throat.

A figure soon stood in the doorway, filling the frame entirely. I sat up in bed, wiping my tired eyes.

"Hello?" I asked, not sure who it was.

The light flipped on and my eyes immediately shut at the brightness.

"Hey," Sam's quiet, smooth voice answered.

Slowly my eyes adjusted and I could see him standing somewhat awkwardly in the entrance of the room. His hair was a mess and his eyes were squinting in the light like mine. He was in boxers and a black t-shirt to match. It took me a moment to remember to breathe.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," he said after a minute of the two of us staring at each other.

I shook my head, "No, it's fine. What's up?"

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.

I smiled and patted the bed. He took the invitation and sat down on the side I had scooted away from. I leaned back against the headboard and he copied me.

"Bad dreams?" I asked him.

He nodded his head. "I was going to watch some TV but I see Dean's hogging the couch."

"So I'm second best?" I joked.

"No," he said, shooting me another sheepish grin. "I remember the times I used to come to you when I had those other bad dreams, the visions. I just...wasn't sure things were still like that."

I reached out and grabbed his hand that was closest to me, pulling it into my lap.

"I'm always here for you, Sammy."

He chuckled a little.

"What?" I said with a grin on my face.

"You."

I smiled, glancing down at his hand in my lap, feeling my heart race at his response.

"What about me?" I asked, looking back up at him.

He looked over at me, a soft smile on his face. "You know that name belongs to a chubby little boy, yet you still call me it. And I let you."

"Because when you were fifteen and I was thirteen you said you'd always be my Sammy. You can't go back on your word. So I'm allowed to call you that."

I swear I saw him blush at that.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.

My brows furrowed in confusion. Surely he wasn't apologizing for soulless Sam's actions?

"For what?"

"For doing what I did. For being gone for a year and a half."

I shook my head. "No, don't even. Sam, what you did was brave. It hurt, yes, but you did what you had to. Any of us would have done the same thing."

"It's not true. About your life passing in front of your eyes before you die." He sighed, looking down at his hand in my lap as I ran circles over it with my thumb. "It didn't."

I didn't know what to say to that. Unlike Dean and Sam, I never died and somehow found a way to cheat life and come back. Death was still fairly foreign to me.

"For some reason I don't remember anything after I jumped, but I remember worrying about Castiel and Bobby. Then Dean." His eyes lifted from our hands to my eyes. "Then you."

I swallowed hard. "Me?"

"I never really had the guts to say anything in the past. I always thought I'd find some great moment; that I had all the time in the world. But before I jumped, when I looked at you," he paused and let out a humorless laugh, "I just wanted to punch myself so hard in the face."

I snorted, choking on a laugh at his words. He smiled at me before pulling his hand out of my lap and instead entwining our fingers together. I felt the heat rise in my cheeks.

"I've been an idiot for so long. Everyone's already told me so. Even Cas!" He shook his head, smiling with a distant look on his face as he stared at the doorway.

He didn't say anything after that and I cleared my throat. "Uh, I'm sorry but I'm lost, Sam."

"Calista, I like you. I've been crazy about you for years." Sam said, finally turning to look at me.

My mouth opened in shock a little.

"I'm not going to let this chance slip away. It's the only regret I've ever had, not telling you."

"Sam, I-" I didn't know what to say. I was speechless; the only thing running through my head was the impossibility of all of this.

At what point had Sam looked at me and seen something more than a friend? And how could I not have known?

A worried look crossed his face and the smile faltered. "If you don't feel the same, I get it. I just can't go on without saying it."

I shook my head roughly. "No, no that's not at all-I just..." I paused, trailing off. I didn't know how to say what I'd always wanted to say.

I grabbed him by the back of the neck and pulled him to me, kissing him. I may not have had the words, but I hoped this got across what I meant to say.

"I take it you feel the same?" Sam said, our faces just centimeters apart.

I bit my lip and nodded my head, enjoying the feel of his hand running up and down my bare arm.

"Now that this is all cleared up, I take it you want to sleep?" Sam asked, grinning a crooked grin.

I pulled away and stifled a yawn in response.

"Yes, I'm beat."

He gave me a kiss on the top of my head before pulling out of the bed, making me feel instantly colder. I wanted to tell him to come back, to stay with me through the night like old times, but I just watched him leave instead.

It didn't matter though. He liked me. As I closed my eyes and settled back down into the sheets, I let my mind wander back to some of the good times I'd had with the guys over the last few years. No matter how much I wished I could be average and normal like everyone else, there was nowhere in the entire world I would rather have been than where I was right now.


	4. Chapter 4

Waking up, I had that clichéd feeling of not knowing if what happened last night really did or didn't actually happen. But then I thought about the kiss Sam had given me when he saw me yesterday evening and I knew I hadn't dreamt up our encounter last night.

I touched a finger to my lips and smiled, remembering the moment. I felt giddy this morning as I flung myself out of the sheets. A permanent smile was plastered across my face as I rushed into the bathroom before Dean or Sam could use it. I brushed my teeth, humming to myself no song in particular. I then jumped into the shower really quick and got out, changing my clothes and not bothering with hair or make up.

Dean gave me a puzzled look as I passed him in the hallway.

"What the hell's up with you?" he asked, eyeing me curiously.

"Just feels like a good day," I told him as I glanced back over my shoulder.

"Chicks," I vaguely heard him mumble before the bathroom door was shut again.

I took the stairs two at a time, finding Bobby sitting in his chair with coffee. I guessed there was alcohol in there too judging by the bottle sitting on the coffee table.

"Morning Bobby! Want some breakfast?"

He eyed me much like Dean had before nodding his head. "What's gotten into you?"

I shrugged, a smile still on my face. "Eggs sound good?"

Bobby nodded again before turning his attention back to the paper in his hands. I continued on to the kitchen, making breakfast in no time and already working on the dishes when Dean walked in with Bobby. The two ate while discussing the hunt and I joined them once I'd cleaned up the mess I'd made. I was slightly disappointed Sam hadn't woken up yet, but I kept it to myself.

"Well, let's get going then," Bobby said, standing up and stretching. He headed out into the other room to grab his bag of things.

"Sam's not coming?" I asked, turning to Dean.

He gave me a weird look. "No, he just became Sam again. He's not even up. Just going to be us three and I was going to leave him a note." Dean shrugged as he tugged his shoes on. "It won't take us long, I'm sure."

"Oh," I said, feeling my heart sink a little. "I'll go grab my things and meet you outside. I'll take my car and follow you guys out there."

Dean nodded his head and I raced up the stairs quick and grabbed my duffel bag, throwing the strap over my shoulder before racing back down the stairs and out the door.

I tossed my things into the back seat of my car before checking on my duffel bag of weapons in the trunk, making sure they were still all there and accounted for. Satisfied, I slammed the trunk shut. A voice not too far away behind me made me jump.

"Uh, forgetting someone?" Sam asked as he walked out of Bobby's house.

The three of us spun around.

"What are you guys doing?" he asked.

"Going on a hunt," Dean told him.

"Great, I'm coming with."

"Oh, no, you just got vertical again," Dean said, slightly joking.

Bobby looked uncomfortable I noticed as I watched the brothers.

"Exactly," Sam said, "I'm fine, so let's go."

Dean looked hesitant before finally agreeing.

"Oh, I just remembered I was supposed to be on phone duty tonight," Bobby lied quickly.

It was so obvious that he was making that up off the top of his head.

Dean narrowed his eyes at him, "You sure?"

"Yeah, you guys go. Have some fun."

I watched as Bobby made his way back to the house and I heard Sam ask Dean about what was up with him.

"Shit, I forgot uh…my phone? I'll be back," I said hurriedly before rushing after Bobby. I had to talk to him before we left.

"Your phone?" Bobby asked like I was being an idiot.

"I had to think of something. Look, Dean told me what happened. I just wanted to say that, well, you shouldn't be so hard on Sam. He doesn't know what he did, and you know the real Sam would never do that to you, Bobby."

Bobby nodded his head as he set his bag on the ground.

"Just try to give him a chance. He knows something's up, and that could be dangerous." 

"Alright," Bobby said gruffly, not looking entirely swayed by my words. "I'll try my best. Now go kill some supernatural butt, kiddo."

I smiled warmly at Bobby before heading back outside, the happy mood returning.

"Find your phone?" Dean asked skeptically.

I pulled it up out of my pocket and held it in the air. "Yup! Was in my pocket the whole time, who knew?" I laughed and the two just shook their head at me.

"So you're following the Impala, right?" Dean asked as he opened the driver's side door.

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you want to ride with her, Sam?" he asked, turning to his brother.

I could tell Dean wanted to be with Sam. After everything that happened over the last year and a half and now he was back. He missed his brother, his real brother, even if he would never say it.

"You should probably ride with Dean this time, I'll be blaring some girly shit."

Dean laughed, "Sam's favorite."

Sam hit him upside the head which made me laugh.

"Bitch," Dean said, a smartass grin on his face.

Sam smirked at his brother. "Jerk."

"Just like old times," I said happily, watching the exchange of their usual insults.

"Just like old times," Dean repeated, smiling as well before telling Sam to get in.

I hopped into my car, which was nothing special by any means, and rolled the window down as I turned up my radio.

"Oh dear God, not again," Dean said, throwing his head in his hands as he heard the song that started playing.

"You're missing out, Sammy boy," I joked, shooting him a wink.

"I'm so lost," he shouted out the window, laughing. He'd been gone for so long, of course he didn't recognize the song. But Dean did.

"No, don't even!" Dean shouted.

I gave a devious smirk as the chorus came up. I used to sing this song all the time when we had brief hunting trips together after Sam had went to Hell. "You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream, the way you turn me on!" I belted out, really overdoing it to get on his nerves.

"Cali I'm going to hurt you!" Dean shouted as he quickly started the Impala. Wasting no time he pulled out of Bobby's and sped down the road in a hurry to get away from my awful music.

I laughed and followed after them, feeling happier than I had in awhile.

_Just like old times._


	5. Chapter 5

The drive was somewhat long, we didn't reach the town until later in the evening once the sun had set. I followed the Impala as it pulled up into a motel and I parked beside them. I turned off my car and looked at the brothers who were joking as they got out of the car. I smiled, climbing out as well.

"Well, how was the drive?" I asked them, grinning. "Have fun catching up?"

Sam pointed a finger at Dean. "Watch out for him, I think he's got a prank war on the brain."

I shook my head as the two started bickering and laughing.

"Can we just go get a room? I'm beat," I admitted after leaning against my car and watching the sibling fight for a bit.

"Sure thing," Dean said before giving Sam a playful glare which he shot right back.

The three of us trailed our way into the lobby of the place, it looked a little nicer than most we had been too I noticed as I passed through the door that Sam held open for me. Dean teased him about being a gentleman before walking up to the guy behind the desk and getting a room.

"You do look tired," Sam told me after a moment. "Dean wanted to go grab food after we got settled in the room. You awake enough to come with?"

"As long as it's a quick dinner," I told him, feeling a yawn coming on.

"Oh come on now!" Dean shot as he saw me yawning. "It's only 8! What are you, a seventy year old woman? Who sleeps at 8?"

"Dean, shut up," I said, too tired for much of a comeback. "I just drove how many miles in the last two days, which I haven't done in awhile."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving it off with his hand. "Let's get our shit in the room and grab some food. I'm starving."

"When aren't you," I mumbled, causing Sam to laugh.

After a few minutes our duffle bags were in the room and we had decided on the diner down the road. We all three piled into Dean's baby, me in the backseat, my usual spot, despite Sam offering me shotgun. Shotgun was always Sam's seat, I wasn't going to change that. Besides, sitting in the back allowed me to stare at him without really getting caught.

The diner was nice, it looked a little country-ish and I was surprised it was fairly empty. The waitress was an older woman who kept eyeing up Sammy, which caused me to chuckle every time she came by. At one point he asked me why I kept doing that.

Dean and I had given him the 'duh' look.

"She's giving you the 'come hither' eyes, Sasquatch," I told him.

He never made eye contact with her after that.

Once we arrived back at our room I decided to get some sleep. We were going to do some questioning tomorrow and I was beat. If I didn't sleep soon I'd be entirely useless in the morning.

Dean was already stretched out on one bed so I decided to take the other, assuming Sam wouldn't have a problem with sharing with me seeing as we used to in the past. And we'd admitted feelings for each other last night.

"Dean, could you lower the TV? I'm going to sleep," I asked him, pulling back the covers and crawling into the bed.

Dean lowered the volume on the show he was watching and the sound of Sam's fingers clicking across the keys on his laptop became louder. I smiled. That boy was always doing research. He was such a nerd.

* * *

><p>I woke up to Dean shaking me violently screaming something about how much he loved apple pie.<p>

"What the hell?" I asked him, swatting his hands off of my shoulders so he'd stop shaking me and hopefully shut up.

"We tried waking you up like a normal person but you just wouldn't. So I resorted to being a dick," he stated matter-of-factly in a normal tone of voice.

"Well congrats, that was totally a dick move," I informed him before claiming the bathroom and rushing inside.

We got ready for the day and the guys dressed into their fake FBI uniforms while I got into mine. We had some interviews to do today and I was trying to get myself back into my old routine.

We got to the girl's house that had been missing from the plane crash and I mostly stayed in the background as the brothers did their thing, Sam being the sympathetic character. It was nice to see him like that again. I could tell Dean agreed by the way he kept glancing at Sam.

The sister let us inside and I followed behind, my eyes scanning around the house as she led us finally to the victim's bedroom.

"Penny was very shy," she told us, glancing around the room herself.

I couldn't believe all of the pink in the room, but I tried to pay attention to what was going on instead of how strange the room was. It looked like a five year old girls dream room.

She went on to tell us how her sister usually kept to herself but wasn't very adventurous, which caused Dean to make a crack at her being in a two-seater plane during a lightening storm. I shot him a look that told him this wasn't the time.

"She was terrified of that thing. She just did it for Stan," she continued.

"Stan?" Sam asked.

The sister nodded her head. "They were just starting to get serious."

I noticed the picture frame of the guy by her bedside, assuming it was Stan. He looked normal enough I supposed.

"She didn't want to seem, you know, not interested. I just wish I'd told her to stay home." She paused for a moment. "We don't even have a body to bury."

Dean and I exchanged looks. I felt sorry for the girl, I knew the situation was tough.

"Well, thank you for your time. I think we should be on our way," I informed her gently.

The guys thanked her as well and we made our way to leave.

"That was awkward," Dean said, looking over his shoulder at the house as we walked down the driveway.

"Dean!" I said, shooting him a sharp look. "She just lost her sister!"

"Thank you captain obvious," Dean said with a roll of his eyes.

"I'm hungry," Sam said as we piled into the Impala again. I had left my car at the motel, not seeing a need to bring both.

Dean glanced at his brother with a big smile. "For once we are on the same wavelength."

We decided to grab some fast food and take it back to the hotel to think and research more.

I was really digging into my burger and fries when Sam, who hadn't really touched his food despite being hungry, started talking about what he'd found in common about the girls.

"I've got a theory," Dean said suddenly, standing up and pulling a little black book out of his jacket.

I eyed him curiously, not sure what he was about to do.

"Penny's diary," he told us when he saw the matching looks on Sam and mine's faces.

My mouth dropped open in surprise. Sam looked a little upset.

"Did you steal that from her room?" he asked.

Dean had a pleased expression on his face now. "I love that you even ask me that."

"And why wouldn't I?"

Dean looked up from the open diary to Sam, then me, then back at the diary shaking his head. "No reason."

Except I knew exactly what he meant. It felt good to have Sam back, to have him _care_ again.

"So what if it's not about religion," Dean went on to his theory dropping the subject.

"What if it's about purity?"

"You mean you think they're all…" Sam started.

"Virgins?" I finished for him.

"Penny was 22," Sam told him.

"Yeah with a pink room," I told him in a duh tone.

"So?" he asked, turning to me.

"And stuffed teddy bears."

"Fine," he said, moving past the point though he still didn't seem convinced that was enough, "but you really think-"

Dean raised a finger then looked down at the diary. "I've decided, I'm going to give Stan my most precious gift."

I bit my lip, holding back laughter. I couldn't believe what I just heard.

Sam shook his head and made a face. "Wow that sounded really creepy coming out of your mouth."

"I think I delivered it," Dean said looking mildly offended.

I only shook my head at the two.

"You know, you could have led with 'the diary'," Sam went on.

"Who would want virgins?" I asked, cutting off a possible side tangent and getting us back on track.

He shook his head, that usual Dean look on his face.

"Ya got me, I prefer ladies with experience."

I raised an eyebrow and Sam looked like he wished I hadn't asked that.

"I think I'm going to go back to my lunch," I said, standing up and taking my burger away from the table the three of us were at.

"Aw come on, don't leave!" Dean said after me.

"The topic of your sex life is where I exit," I told him as I stepped outside to finish my lunch in peace.

"I'm going to join you!" Sam said quickly, picking up the bag of his barely touched lunch.

"Oh, I see how it is!" Dean shot after us.

The door of the room cut off whatever he was saying after that, but he didn't follow us out to say anymore so it must not have been important. I took the last few bites of my burger as I stared across the parking lot, Sam beside me just chowing down. He normally didn't talk much when he was eating so it was a comfortable silence we had fallen into. Occasionally I'd eye him out of the corner of my eye and try to hold back a huge smile.

Something suddenly hit the back of my head and I turned around to face him completely.

"Sam," I said in a warning tone, running a hand through my hair.

He gave me an innocent look as he stuffed a few fries in his mouth. "What?" he said with his mouth full.

"Did you just throw a fry at me?"

He shook his head quickly but I saw a grin forming on his lips. He tried to cover it up with a huge bite of his food.

"You're such a bad liar, Sam Winchester."

"Do you like seafood?" Sam asked while he was chewing, trying to hold in his laughter.

"Don't even!"

He came toward me and opened his mouth like he used to do when we were little, showing the chewed food on his tongue.

"You're horrible, get away!" I shrieked, giggling before rushing back into the motel room where Dean looked up at us.

He just stared with a 'you two are idiots' look on his face while Sam continued to chase me around the room. He finally stopped behind me and I smacked him with a pillow.

"Ow," he said, rubbing his nose and finally swallowing his food.

"Pillow fight!" Dean shouted in a feminine voice, shooting up from his chair.

Sam set his burger down on the table and rushed to grab a pillow off the bed as well.

"Dean, as your best friend, I'm telling you that you better not hit me," I warned him.

"What?" Sam said, shooting me a betrayed look before turning to Dean. "Dude, I'm your brother!"

Dean looked between the two of us and shrugged at Sam. "Sorry, hot chicks always win."

I laughed and the two of us ganged up on Sam, who we eventually ripped the pillow out of his hands and got him onto the floor.

Dean plopped on Sam's back not letting him get up. A moment later Dean pulled me down beside him.

"You lose, Sam," I stated triumphantly from atop is back.

I laughed when Dean then tried to give Sam a wet willy. Sam was laughing and trying to flip us off his back the entire time, telling us we were going to regret this.

"Dean," I said suddenly in a serious tone. He turned to me. "We've caught the elusive Big Foot. We're going to be famous."

He burst out laughing, messing up Sam's hair as he rolled his head to look at me, shooting me a dirty glare.

"You're going to get it, Lis," Sam told me.

I smiled mischievously at him. "I'm not afraid of you."

Dean got up abruptly and started making sounds of disgust. "I feel like that had a double meaning. Virgin ears here, guys!"

"Dean, I don't think you're allowed to use that line," Sam told his brother.

"Hey, now you're bordering on being insulting," Dean said jokingly.

I sighed, looking between the two. "How do we ever accomplish anything with you two goofballs always arguing?"


	6. Chapter 6

I awoke the next morning to Sam lightly shaking me, which was a better wake up than what Dean had done the morning before.

"Hey," I said sleepily as I took in Sam's disheveled appearance beside me in bed.

He smiled softly in return. "Hey."

"That time already?" I asked, groaning when he nodded.

"Dean was up early and found another girl who was attacked. She's in the hospital so we need to get ready."

I nodded my head sleepily before slowly getting out of bed. Just like the previous morning, we dressed ourselves into our attire and made for the hospital, all crammed into the Impala again.

"It's alright, Melissa, what came at you?" I asked the young girl who ways lying in the hospital bed. She looked frightened.

"You can tell us," Sam urged, his eyes soft.

"It looked like a…" she hesitated, seeming reluctant to finish her sentence, "a giant bat."

I noticed Sam's expression become surprised as I felt my own doing the same. I tried to keep a straight face though.

"You think I'm making it up, right?" she asked as she saw the brothers exchange a look. "That's what the other man said."

"Well," Sam said with that soothing tone again, "I'm not the other man."

She looked down as she went on, "It came right at me. It was huge, I swear. That's how I got this." She sat forward on the bed and pulled the hospital gown open a bit, revealing two deep cuts up her left shoulder.

"It attacked, and then what happened?" I asked, urging her to continue.

"I don't know, I passed out. When I woke up, it was gone."

"Is there anything else you can think of? Anything else you can tell us even if it doesn't seem important?" Sam questioned.

She looked down at her hand. "Well, my ring got lost."

Instantly I remembered Dean's theory from the other day about the virgins.

"Or else that _thing_ stole it, if that makes any sense."

"What kind of ring?" Dean asked quickly. I could tell where he was going.

"Gold. A promise ring."

The three of us all exchanged looks briefly before Dean continued.

"Promise ring? From like a church, a purity ring?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked looking a bit uncomfortable.

Dean cleared his throat awkwardly before plunging into a question I couldn't believe he asked. "I gotta ask, so uh, Melissa, look nobodies judging anybody here okay," Dean started, causing me to notice the look on Sam's face. He was slowly making the connection I had. "Should you really be wearing that ring?"

I tried hard not to hit him upside the back of the head at that. Though, the question was necessary.

She got defensive immediately, saying she was.

"Really?" Dean asked, entirely disbelieving.

Sam just looked over at me with the most uncomfortably awkward look on his face.

"Matt Barn didn't count!"

I gave half a snort before I stopped myself, trying to remain professional.

Sam thanked her for her time quickly before ushering us all outside.

"Dude, Dean, really?" He asked his brother when we were in the elevator.

"What? It was important, someone had to ask," Dean defended.

"Yeah but, that was just harsh."

"And amusing," I added, finally chuckling a little. "I mean I know I shouldn't be laughing," I said when Sam shot me a look, "But come on!"

Dean cracked a smile. "Glad I made someone's day."

Sam sighed as we exited towards the parking lot. "So, what, you think batman tried to rape her?"

I snorted again as I tried to hold in a laugh, Sam shooting me another look while Dean was still grinning at how amused I was.

"I'm sorry, but you said batman," I defended myself.

"Well, he does carry a lot of rage," Dean said getting back on the subject, "but he rejected her because she was already de-hymenated."

"So what kind of thing likes virgins and gold?" I asked after a moment of thought.

"P. Diddy," Dean threw out instantly.

I started up laughing again and Sam looked only mildly amused.

"You know it's comforting," Sam said.

"What's that?" Dean asked as he turned his amused expression off of me and to his brother.

"I died for a year, came back, and you're still not funny," he stated simply.

"Shut up," Dean said, opening the car door. "I'm hilarious." He glanced over at me and pointed as I held myself against the car, the smile still on my face. "Exhibit A."

Sam rolled his eyes at me then smiled. "You're such a dork."

"Food?" Dean asked as we all got into the car.

I nodded my head vigorously, feeling incredibly hungry.

We stopped by a fast food place once again and grabbed some food before making our way back to the motel. Dean yelled at me once for sneaking a fry in his precious car.

Not long after we finished lunch was I standing over Dean's shoulder looking at the map and the information on the girls that were missing while Sam was on his laptop.

"This can't be possible," Sam said exasperated from the table behind us.

I looked back at him, confused.

"Try me," Dean said unphased.

"I googled fire, claws, flying, stealing virgins, and gold…and it all takes me to the same place."

"Where?" I questioned him curiously.

"World of Warcraft fansites."

Dean made a face and I raised a brow.

"I don't know what that means," he stated.

"Dragons, dude," Sam said like he was an idiot.

My mouth opened and I glanced at Dean.

"See, I told you, not possible."

"Actually, it might be," Dean spoke.

"How? In what reality?" Sam challenged.

"It's been a strange year," Dean said with a shrug.

"We should get a second opinion," I piped up.

"Bobby," Dean said in agreement, pulling out his phone.

I sat beside Sam as we listened to Dean on the phone asking Bobby about dragons. I could only imagine what Bobby was saying. I kept turning my head to catch Sam looking at me, and every time he just smiled and looked back at Dean.

I noticed Dean suddenly get this awkward look on his face.

"Everything's fine, Sam and Cali say 'hey'," Dean said in an overly smooth voice before just hanging up the phone.

I made to say something, glanced at Sam, then thought better of it.

"You okay?" Sam asked his brother, obviously noticing Dean's change in mood.

"Yeah," Dean said curtly.

"Bobby say anything?"

"Nope."

He got up from the sofa quickly, grabbing some papers and tossing half the stack to me. We took it as a hint to continue researching further and no one said a word. I watched as Sam picked up their dad's journal and begin skimming through pages.

About half an hour later Dean seemed defeated, tossing the papers down and shutting Sam's laptop. Sighing, he ran a hand over his face and I looked up.

"Dad never wrote anything about dragons," Dean said pointing at Sam.

Sam's expression changed as he looked up at his brother. "Hey, did we hunt a skinwalker lately?"

I felt my breath catch as I tried to remain calm, looking over at Dean. I had no idea what they'd hunted lately when Sam was soulless Sam, but something about the way Dean reacted made me think they had.

"Doesn't ring a bell, why?"

"I dunno, just…déjà vu or something," Sam said, shaking his head as he glanced back at the journal. "Are you sure? I coulda sworn-"

I bit my lip, looking over at Dean who had cut him off really fast.

"You got to remember your eggs are a little scrambled, right? Yeah, I'm sure."

A distant look came over Sam who just brushed it off like he believed Dean, but something told me he didn't.

I jumped when his phone went off beside me and I passed it to him. "Bobby," I told him.

I watched as Dean quickly scribbled some things down and hung up on Bobby in a hurry. He got up right after and I made to follow but he told me to stay with Sam and figure out where dragons would have a hide out.

Sam asked if Bobby had any idea and sighed when Dean had told him no.

"Alright, guess I'm back to lore."

"Which says what, they live in Middle Earth?" Dean shot sarcastically.

"No, caves," Sam said seriously.

Dean slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and mumbled "nerd" before exiting the room.

Sam's mouth hung open after his brother and then he glanced at me like he expected me to say otherwise.

I shrugged. "Kinda are," I admitted.

Rolling his eyes at me, he shut his dad's journal then stood up and stretched. "Looks like it's just us," he pointed out.

"Guess it does," I agreed, not knowing where he was going with that.

He raised his eyebrows at me and when I only returned him a blank stare he shook his head. "Nevermind, I'm going to call Bobby and see if he can help with this cave thing. There's no caves here for miles."

I nodded and sat back down in the sofa as I felt a headache coming on. I watched as he called up Bobby and listened as he began questioning him, wondering how the conversation would go with how Bobby had been acting.

"Wait, Bobby, uh, you okay?" I heard Sam ask.

I chewed my lip as I listened more intently while pretending I wasn't.

"Besides the way you been acting and talking? Nothing," Sam said into the phone. "Is there something I should know?"

I nervously ran a hand through my hair.

"Well Bobby what happened this last year?"

I coughed loudly and Sam glanced at me quickly before looking away, awaiting Bobby's response. I discretely crossed my fingers.

I watched his expression as it seemed to fall, figuring Bobby had blew him off like I'd hoped.

"He hung up on me," Sam said suddenly, staring at his phone then to me.

"Oh?" I asked in an awkward sort of way.

Sam gave me a look, furrowing his brows.

"I'm going to run out for a walk, I'm a bit tired of this room. I could use some fresh air. You?" I asked him.

He shook his head and I shrugged, rushing outside and making my way out of the room. I didn't want him to start questioning me next.


	7. Chapter 7

"Hello?"

"Hey, Beth, it's me," I said into the phone, eyes transfixed on the sidewalk.

"Jeez, takes you three days to call and tell me you're still alive?" she joked on the other end of the line.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I got really caught up in everything and it slipped my mind," I admitted sheepishly.

"So, spill. What's going on?"

I took a deep breath, scanning my surroundings as I made my way around the downtown I'd somehow managed to find myself in. I knew I'd gotten lost on the way away from the motel. It was going to be rather embarrassing having to call Sam and have him pick me up.

"Well when I got to Bobby's he was already up and about. You're not going to believe what he did when he saw me," I gushed.

I heard her giggle. "What, tell me."

"He kissed me."

She squealed excitedly. "Calista, that's awesome! How was it? Is he a good kisser? Oh my God, are you guys together then?"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down," I said, laughing a little, "It was amazing and yes he is. And…I'm not sure? I mean later that night he admitted to having had feelings for me for years."

"Has anything happened since?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

I thought about it for a bit. "Well, no, I guess not. I mean, we joke around a lot like we used to. And we share a bed in the motel like old times, but I don't think it means anything?"

"You mean, he only kissed you once? What the hell?" Beth sounded disappointed.

"No, there was another time. Later that same night when I had gotten to Bobby's and he confessed his feelings. I kissed him though."

She sighed. "Make a move on him then."

"We're kind of on a case right now, my mind's a little distracted."

"You mean to tell me some supernatural thing is more interesting than a hot guy? Really?" Beth asked me skeptically.

I laughed a little. "Okay, well maybe not entirely. But it's such a weird case."

"How so? Aren't they all?"

"How do you feel about dragons?"

"Uhm, I think they're a little overrated? I don't know?"

I sat down on a bench in front of a few little shops, looking around and making sure no one was nearby to overhear.

"We're on this case and everything we've found points to…well, dragons. Which just sounds crazy even for a hunter. I mean, come on, dragons?"

"Huh, yeah that is weird. You're going to need to let me know what's going on with that later, but I've got to run, got to get to work."

"Alright, I'll call back soon and I don't mean in three days," I promised before saying goodbye and hanging up.

I glanced around me, taking in my surroundings. Yes, I definitely didn't pay much attention to where I'd gone when I was walking.

"Oh this is just great," I grumbled to myself, looking back down at my phone. "Might as well call him, there's no other way I'm getting back."

I pressed the speed dial button for Sam's phone and waited patiently for him to answer. It felt like he wasn't going to answer before it reached his voicemail, but at the last second he picked up.

"Lis?" he asked worriedly. He sounded a bit upset too, unless that was just my imagination.

"Okay, I'm going to admit something and I want you to not make fun of me."

"Alright?" he said, seeming to brighten up a little with interest.

"I totally got lost. I somehow ended up downtown and I can't remember which way I took to get here. Could you uhm, well, come get me?"

He chuckled softly into the phone before saying he would.

"Where are you?"

"I'm sitting on a bench in front of," I paused, craning my neck to see the name of the restaurant behind me, "Eddie's? It looks like a restaurant."

"I'll be there soon, don't go anywhere," he told me.

"Sam, where the hell would I go?"

He chuckled once more. "Right, good point."

I groaned as I hung up my phone and put it back into my jeans pocket. With nothing to do, I just people watched for awhile. My eyes lingered for a time on a mother and her son. They weren't doing anything to really even draw attention, but for awhile I sat there wondering what it'd be like to be like that. To just be naïve like all the people around me, to be able to call someone crazy if they told me dragons were real. To have a family.

I closed my eyes feeling that headache coming back. Thinking was only going to make it hurt worse. I shook my head free of the thoughts and spotted my car pull up in front of me. Sam got out looking a little shaken, but he put on a smile when our eyes met.

"Can we promise not to tell Dean about this?" I asked him as he took a seat on the bench beside me.

Sam nodded his head. "Sure, though I did tell you I was going to get you back for the Big Foot comment the other day."

I grinned at the memory.

"Why are you guys always making fun of my height?"

"Because you get upset about it, which makes it fun."

He smiled at me before grabbing my hand in his. I figured it was a pretty bold move but he seemed confident that I wasn't going to get mad.

"I missed your smile, Sam," I confessed before I could stop myself.

His hand squeezed mine and my heart did a little flip.

"Did you?" he teased.

"Yes. It's adorable, and you've got cute dimples."

He grinned at me, blushing it looked like. "I have an idea," he said after a moment.

"Which is?" I asked, remembering the last time I heard him say those exact words. It ended up with me waking up saran wrapped to a bed.

"We get some pizza and some movies and some booze and take some time off of researching?" he suggested, looking hopeful.

I eyed him, mulling it over in my head. "You find out where the lair is?"

"Sewers, most likely."

"Then I'd love to," I told him, a huge smile on my lips.

He led me back to my car and I let him drive considering I never liked driving to begin with. I waited outside in the car as he ran in to a liquor store and bought some wine. I dialed a pizza place that Sam had found a number for earlier, clearly already having thought this through, and ordered us some food.

After the trip to the liquor store we headed over to pick up some movies at an actual rental place, which was pretty dead. But we had twenty minutes to kill before we could pick up our pizza so we wandered through the aisles of movies.

"What'd you have in mind to watch?" I asked him as we browsed through the horror aisle.

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me."

"No sappy chick flicks," I warned him, to which he turned and gave me a dirty look.

"I don't watch that garbage."

"Me either," I told him as I scanned along a shelf. I stopped when my eyes landed on one of my favorites. "This one for sure," I told him as he came up by me, a movie in his hand too.

"Never saw it," he said.

I had grabbed Alfred Hitchcock's movie Psycho and noticed he was holding Fight Club. I grinned in delight. We grabbed a few more movies, not sure how long we'd be staying awake, before quickly stopping by the pizza place and picking up our order.

Back at the motel, we'd devoured the whole box of pizza in fifteen minutes and drank a whole bottle of wine between the two of us, already starting on the second. Being the lightweight I am, I was already feeling a buzz. We'd eventually made our way towards the beds, Sam putting the DVD into the player while I got comfortable on the bed, pulling the blankets up over me. Sam made his way back over, curling up under the sheets as well. He looked over at me as the movie was starting and put an arm behind me, slightly pulling me into him.

I smiled up from my place against his shoulder as he smiled down at me.

"Is it lame if I want this to be considered a date?" he asked me a little nervously.

I shook my head. "Best date ever."

He bent down and kissed me gently. Eventually we broke away and the starting of the movie caught our attention.

A few movies and two bottles of wine later it was one in the morning and I was exhausted. The movie had just started rolling the credits and Sam got up to turn everything off before pulling his shirt over his head and crawling back under the sheets next to me. I rolled over resting my head against his bare chest, feeling the rise and fall with each of his breaths.

"I can't think of anyone better to be stuck in a motel with," I teased as I felt his hand begin to twirl a strand of my hair around his finger.

"I'm glad Dean had to leave for the day otherwise this night wouldn't have happened."

I nodded my head. "Agreed."

Silence fell down over us for awhile. Eventually I assumed he had fallen asleep, until I felt a finger under my chin tilting up my head. His lips met mine in a soft kiss that turned passionate in no time. My hands made their way up his chest, one of them placed against the back of his neck. We made out for awhile, letting our emotions run away with us. I ended up with my shirt tossed on the other bed by the time we'd finally pulled away.

"I've been waiting years to be able to kiss you whenever I wanted to," Sam whispered quietly next to me.

His warm breath against my ear tickled, sending goose bumps up my arms.

"Worth the wait?" I teased back a little breathlessly.

He smirked before pulling me into another kiss, incoherently mumbling a 'you have no idea' against my lips in between the kisses.

Nothing went further than kissing before the two of us finally fell asleep. Sam's arms were wrapped protectively around me and the last thing I saw before I drifted off was the goofy grin on his face.

_I really did miss that smile._


	8. Chapter 8

Warmth was enveloping me as I slowly opened my eyes. My arms were tightly wrapped around a fluffy pillow and I was lying on my side facing towards the empty second. I noticed the weight on my abdomen and slowly lifted my head to see Sam's arm draped across my body, which is when I realized he was curled up against my backside. I glanced over to catch him asleep still, a peaceful look on his face. I smiled before closing my eyes and laying my head back down on the pillow.

"Get up."

My eyes shot right back open and I noticed Dean sitting at the little table across the room. He had a smug look on his face as he sat there with his coffee.

"It's creepy to watch people sleep," I shot at him, trying to cover up my embarrassment for being caught like this with his brother. It'd be one thing if we were officially a couple, but we were still in that awkward phase of not knowing what was going on between us.

"It's creepy to watch you sleep with my brother," Dean shot back.

I felt myself blushing. Slowly I maneuvered my way out of Sam's arms and made my way to my duffle bag, grabbing out some new clothes for a shower.

"I'm just going to go get ready," I told him awkwardly before disappearing.

The shower was quick and I made my way back into the main room in no time to find Sam and Dean talking about the weapon he got for us to kill the dragon. I didn't even want to ask why the sword was broken and he only had the bottom third of it.

Sam then began to tell us about his plans for finding the creature in the sewers and I felt myself wondering why supernatural things couldn't just live in a normal place for once.

Dean seemed quick to get on our way so he grabbed the sword and made for the door, announcing that we should go. I followed after him, noticing Sam stalling at the table. We both stopped and looked at him.

"What?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged a bit. "Nothing, let's go."

I eyed him curiously as he stood up and headed out the door before us.

* * *

><p>We had been wandering the sewers for awhile now with no sign of anything, just horrible smells. I felt disgusted with every breath I inhaled and my feet were starting to kill me.<p>

"Dude, we've been here for hours and there's nothing. What if the lore's wrong? What if dragons like nice hotels?" Dean put out sarcastically, seeming to read my thoughts.

Sam stopped abruptly. "What is that?"

"What?" I asked, all three of us pointing our flashlights where Sam was looking.

There was a small pile of gold pushed up against the dirty wall.

"Holy crap," I mumbled as Dean walked over to it.

He bent down picking up a gold watch. "Okay, maybe there are dragons here."

I felt myself tense up at that. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect when we found this dragon.

Sam pointed something else out farther down and I followed after him. We came upon a bunch of lit candles by an old looking book. My brows furrowed in confusion.

"Little arts and crafty for a giant bat, right?" Sam mumbled, to which I nodded in agreement.

This was just strange.

Dean reached out a hand to pick up the book, slightly examining it.

"Hello?" a female voice called off in the distance.

The three of us shot our heads in the direction instantly. In no time we left the creepy little alter and headed straight towards the sound.

Further ahead we came upon a bunch of young girls locked up in a cage. I felt my stomach churn as I rushed forward, the brothers following close behind.

"We're going to get you out," I assured them all, looking for some way to open the cage.

"He's coming back," one of the girls warned.

I grabbed the crowbar next to Sam and attempted to pry the cage open but was flung back suddenly, my head hitting the dirty ground. My vision blurred momentarily but the guys were already on their feet.

I heard the sounds of Dean fighting the guy, who oddly enough looked nothing like a dragon, while I grabbed the crowbar and got back to trying to pry the cage open. Sam was helping and hoping to hurry the process all the while saying reassuring things to the girls who were beyond frightened.

I glanced over my shoulder when I heard the sword drop from Dean's hands.

Sam quickly shot up, grabbing something in the distance and rushing over to hit the dragon-man. When the guy turned around dodging Sam's blow, he seemed to be emitting heat from his hand.

A second guy showed up while Dean was trying to reach the fallen sword, grabbing him just as Dean's fingers brushed the weapon.

"Calista, get them out of here!" Sam shouted over at me from where he was struggling with the dragon-man.

"I can't let you guys fight by yourselves!" I screamed as I finally lifted a part of the cage open, pulling the girls out.

"Go!" Dean commanded me, giving me a brief stern look.

"Please, you have to get us out of here," a girl beside me begged.

I felt utterly conflicted. I didn't want to leave the two alone when the fight seemed to take a turn for the worst, but these girls needed to get out of here.

"We'll be fine," Sam grunted out, though it wasn't too reassuring.

"Come on," I told the girls against my better judgment. I would have rather stayed to fight, but I knew what I had to do.

The two dragon-men were furious about what I was doing, but they were too tied up with their attackers to do anything to stop us.

It ended up taking an hour before I led the girls out of the sewers. Everyone was safe for the most part once we finally exited, but I felt my heart going crazy. I hoped Sam and Dean were alright.

* * *

><p>"God what happened?" I shouted once the door to the motel room finally opened. I'd been sitting in the room waiting for them for hours. They hadn't called or even answered their cells.<p>

"Sorry, we got a little side tracked. Dean got us lost on the way out," Sam said, shooting Dean a look.

"We managed to snag this though," Dean said smiling and holding up the book.

I sighed, running a hand through my clean hair. While I waited I had showered, unable to stand the stench.

"I'm glad you two are alright. I'd hug you but, well, you both kind of reek."

"I call shower!" Sam shouted, rushing into the bathroom before Dean even had a chance.

I giggled, watching Dean's face go from shocked to pissed.

The next two hours we packed up our things and ate a quick meal before deciding to drive on through the night back to Bobby's and find out what that book was. Apparently they'd only managed to kill one of the dragon-men in the sewers and they were hoping the book might help them figure out what they were up to with all of those girls.

It was tough staying awake through the drive but we made it to Bobby's in the morning. We quickly crashed, barely greeting Bobby as we showed up. In the morning I noticed Sam acting rather weird and quiet but I let it go until I saw him head out of the house. I followed him, trying to catch up.

"Where are you going?"

He glanced over his shoulder then back forward. "To find Dean, I need to talk to him."

"About what?" I asked, but he didn't answer so I continued to follow him until we saw Dean up ahead.

"Guess that book wasn't all you snagged," I mumbled as I eyed the pile of gold in front of him.

Dean chuckled while holding up the gold watch. "Hey Sam, ask me what time it is."

Sam shook his head. "Why don't you cut to the chase and just roll in it?"

I stifled a giggle behind my hand. I stopped once I saw Sam's expression change suddenly and he took a seat across from Dean. Slowly I made my way to sit beside him.

"Dean," Sam started, not really catching his attention.

"Yeah?"

He hesitated for a moment before speaking again. "I am so, so sorry. I can't even begin to say…" he trailed off.

I felt so lost. Apparently, Dean did too.

"For what?"

"You know what," Sam said firmly, a serious look on his face.

Realization hit Dean and then I understood what he was talking about.

"Did Bobby?"

"Cas."

"Cas," Dean growled, dropping the watch into the pile of gold.

"You should have told me Dean," Sam told him.

"You weren't supposed to know," I said, sticking up for him.

"What I did? To Bobby?" he said to me, then looked back at his brother, "To you? Of course I should know."

"Sam, Death didn't just shove your soul back in, he put up the Great Wall of Sam between you and the things that you don't remember. And trust me when I say that the things that you don't know could kill you. That's not a joke!" Dean spat out roughly, clearly agitated.

I was speechless as I watched the scene unfold. I'd watched these boys argue countless times about things this big before and I was afraid this would turn into another one of those fights.

"Alright," Sam agreed. "But I have to set things right. What I can, anyway."

"It wasn't you!" Dean urged.

I listened while Sam told Dean what I figured had been running through his mind since I got lost the other afternoon. That was probably when he'd called Castiel and had him tell him what had been going on.

"But I gotta fix, what I gotta fix," Sam finished finally.

I sat there knowing it wasn't as simple as what he was saying.

"So I need to know what I did," Sam pried.

Dean looked like that was the last thing he wanted. "You don't know how dangerous that could be."

"What would you do?" Sam asked, and Dean couldn't respond. "Right, same thing."

Dean opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by footsteps approaching. I glanced over my shoulder to see Bobby.

"There's something I think you ought to see," He announced.

The three of us exchanged looks before getting up to follow him back inside.


	9. Chapter 9

"This dates back around the fourteenth century," Bobby told us as we all stood around the book Dean had pulled from the sewers.

I stood forward, flipping through pages.

"What language is it?" I asked.

"Da Vinci code," Bobby joked. "Real obscure Latin. It's gonna take me my golden years to translate it all."

I sighed, looking over a page before flipping another page.

"Oh and, fyi Cali, that ain't paper."

I slowly lifted my gaze from off the book and up to Bobby, my hand still holding a page in midturn.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's human skin."

Instantly I dropped the page from between my fingers and jumped back, wiping my hands off on my shirt like it would do something. I noticed the boys had a similar reaction. Mentally I vowed to never touch it again.

"Okay, I'm fairly clear on this first bit," Bobby said going on to explain what he'd translated so far. Something about some horrible, awful place.

"So what is it?"

"I'm thinking, you know, _purgatory_," Bobby said.

"Purgatory? Awesome," Dean announced in a sarcastic tone.

"What were some dragons doing with a book on purgatory?"

"Reading poems?" Dean suggested.

"Oh no," Bobby corrected quickly, "they're reading an instruction manual."

"What?" Dean and I spat at the same time.

"If you're nuts enough to want access to a place that gnarly this book will show you how to open a door."

I felt myself shrinking back from the book a bit, even more freaked out by being in its presence.

"So, how do you open the door?" Dean asked after making yet another sarcastic comment.

"Ask Cloverfield, I'm pretty sure he's got that page." Bobby indicated the missing pages from the book.

Sickening waves rolled through me at the thought of someone opening a door to this place. I couldn't imagine anything good coming from it.

"This is all about opening a door to let something in," he continued.

"Bringing something here," Sam said making the connection. He looked just as freaked as I felt. "What?"

"I'm working on it."

Sam shot me a nervous look and I reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder, trying to seek comfort from him myself.

"Could you give us something?" Dean asked.

"I got a name."

"Well, okay?"

"Mother?" Bobby responded, looking a little unsure himself.

Dean's face scrunched up.

"Mother? Mother of what? Mother of dragons?" Sam asked, confused.

"It says it a few times here, 'Mother of all'."

My head felt like it was spinning. _Mother of all._

"What the hell's this 'mother of all' mean?" Dean questioned Bobby.

He looked just as lost as us. "I don't know."

The tension in the room increased between everyone. Once again we found ourselves up against the impossible. Whatever happened to just working jobs?

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked, voice barely audible.

"Keep hunting, try to figure this thing out?" Sam offered.

Dean nodded in agreement before looking over at me. "You in?"

"Well I-I uhm," I glanced back at Sam who was looking at me hopefully and over to Bobby who was staring intently. "I guess so."

"You don't have to," Dean assured me from his place on a chair, taking a sip of the alcohol now in his hands.

"I want to it's just, I don't like not knowing what we're going to be up against in the end."

"I'm a little nervous too," Sam admitted beside me, placing a hand on top of the hand I had on his shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

I smiled at him a little. "I'm going to need to stop by my place then. I didn't pack much clothing or grab all of my hunting gear when I left. Plus I have a job I need to quit."

Three sets of eyes landed on me giving me strange looks.

"You had a job?" Dean asked me curiously. "Where?"

"At a bar," I answered vaguely.

"And you had a place of your own?"

"Not exactly, I lived with five other people in a two-story house."

Dean's eyes widened. "That's a lot of other people."

I shrugged, smiling at the good times I had had there the last few months. "They're all hunters. Four of them are couples and then Beth basically became a sister to me after I moved in."

"You lived with a bunch of hunters?"

"Yeah, worked for one too."

"Damn, I didn't think that many really lived near each other," Dean mumbled under his breath.

"When were you planning on doing all of this?" Sam asked me.

"Tomorrow I guess? I mean if we get on this case right away then I'm going to need to be ready for life on the road again."

"I'll come with you," Sam stated. "We can leave first thing in the morning."

"I'm coming too!" Dean shouted from behind us. "You're not leaving me out. I want to meet these hunters."

I grinned over at Dean. "Alright, you both can come with. I was kind of hoping to at least spend a little time there though before I just left. Who knows when I'll see them again…" I said, whispering the last part.

"You all better be heading to sleep if you plan on heading out so soon then," Bobby told us as he stood up, stretching behind his desk before making his way towards the stairs.

Dean got up and headed to the living room, trying to get comfortable on the couch. I chewed my lip awkwardly before piping up as Sam walked behind me.

"Dean why don't you take your normal room and Sam and I can share the one we used to? I feel bad you've got to curl up on that small thing. It doesn't look comfortable."

He raised an eyebrow at me before looking at Sam. I turned around and looked at him as well, hoping he didn't mind me assuming that sharing was an option.

"Why are you looking at me? I don't mind, it's not like we didn't share a bed the other night," Sam said.

"Oh, I know," Dean grinned wolfishly, shooting Sam a wink.

I rolled my eyes before grabbing Sam's hand and leading him up the stairs with Dean trailing behind us.

"Look at that, already in a hurry to get you back in bed!" Dean joked from behind us.

"Shut up, Dean!" I said as we reached the top of the stairs.

Sam was just grinning from ear to ear, obviously amused at the whole situation. We said our goodnights to Dean before turning into our own room where I felt too tired to care about changing my clothes. Sam must have been equally as tired because he crawled under the sheets as well, not bothering to even take off his shirt this time. Secretly I was a little disappointed, but after he pulled me close to his body and we cuddled up together, I couldn't even think about that.

"Goodnight Sam," I said, snuggling up against his warm body.

"Goodnight Calista."


	10. Chapter 10

All the windows were down and my music was turned up at a high volume. I had my aviators on and my hair tied back out of my face, enjoying the feel of the wind whipping through my car. I was singing along to one of my CDs, glancing back in the rearview mirror and seeing the Impala behind me still. I could make out Dean singing behind the steering wheel, which just made me grin. Sam hated his music.

We had been driving for hours before Dean called and told me to pull over because he was starving. At the next exit I pulled off and went looking for something moderately decent, only finding fast food joints. I knew Dean loved McDonalds so I gave up and pulled in there. Seconds later the Impala was parked beside my car.

"You put my car to shame," I whined to Dean as he got out of his car.

He gave me a triumphant look before nodding his head. "Good, your cars a piece of shit anyway."

I shot him a glare which made Sam laugh. "It may not be anything fancy but it gets me from place to place. And has good gas mileage."

He rolled his eyes before heading into the restaurant. Sam smiled at me before following his brother inside, me following behind and discreetly checking out his ass.

We ordered our food and I grabbed my drink before picking out a booth to sit in. I always did, they'd come to learn. I loved booths, they always felt more private.

"So should we be expecting anything bad when we meet these friends of yours?" Dean questioned as he took a huge bite out of his burger.

"No, I don't live in a whore house or anything, jeez."

Sam choked on the Coke he was drinking and I smirked at him.

"Just normal people, nothing to be worried about. I already told Beth I was coming and she's got this plan that we're going to a bar when we get there."

"I'm in."

I rolled my eyes at Dean. "Of course you are. You're always up for getting drunk."

"Hey now, be nice!"

Our late lunch put us behind by forty minutes, but I tried to make up for it by speeding more than I really should have. Dean didn't seem to have any problems keeping up.

It wasn't too long after the sun had set that we'd pulled up at the house I'd spent the last few months trying to make a home. I got out and made my way up to the house, not really bothering to wait for the guys. I opened the front door and was immediately pulled into a hug.

"Calista!"

"Bethany!" I squealed back.

We let go when I heard throats being cleared behind me. I spun around to the guys and grinned.

"Boys this is Beth, Beth this is Dean and Sam."

She greeted them before telling us all to come inside.

"Holy hell you said he was attractive but I didn't know you meant hottest man alive gorgeous," Beth whispered as she looked at Sam. "No wonder why you've been so stuck on him."

I hit her playfully. "Shut up!"

She grinned mischievously at me before informing us all that the boys, Matt and Vick, were out on a case while Megan and Lily were upstairs waiting for me to get back. Apparently we really were going to a bar.

"With a bunch of girls?" Dean gave me a look.

"Oh whatever, you'll love Beth. She reminds me of you," I told him.

He gave me a weird look.

"I'm going to get changed then," I informed them all before exiting down the hall to my room.

"Bella!" I shouted as I entered.

"She hasn't left your bed in days!" I heard Beth shout back.

I grinned down at the cat before scooping her up into my arms. "I missed you kitty."

I set the cat back down, petting her once more, then quickly changed into something more appropriate for a bar and threw on some make up. I had to admit, I was purposely trying to look hot for Sam. It was probably obvious, seeing as what I was wearing would never be deemed an outfit to go hunting in and that was all I usually wore. When I made my way out back to the living room I noticed everyone already down there. I also noticed Sam eyeing me up, his eyes lingering on my cleavage for a bit. I smiled, satisfied with the reaction.

"Let's go damn it," I said, heading out the front door. "Sam you're coming with me."

He didn't even argue, just followed along after me while Dean got into one of the girls' cars.

"You look really good," he said after we had been driving for a few minutes.

"Thanks Sam."

I tried not to blush.

"You always look good though," he added.

I was sure I was blushing now. "No, that's impossible."

He shot me a disbelieving look. "Like when?"

"In the mornings I look like death. Especially if I'm hungover. Or when I'm really drunk."

He shifted in his seat to face me while looking pensive. "No," he said while shaking his head a little, "I always thought you were cute when you were really drunk. And I like seeing you in the mornings, hungover or not. When we used to go on those old hunts and we shared a bed, I always liked waking up to see you with your hair out of place and your make up sometimes a mess."

"Aw Sam, you're going to make me blush so bad my skin will be permanently red."

He chuckled beside me.

By the time we got to the bar and piled out I was actually in the mood for drinking and dancing.

"This bar seems pretty packed," Dean noted as we headed inside.

"Always is," Lily told him over the music.

We grabbed a table and I forced Sam to do some shots with me right away. It was something we used to do every time we entered a bar in the past. Not long after I was already feeling the effects.

"I want to dance," I informed Sam as I turned to look at him. He had this goofy look on his face but didn't protest as I pulled him over to where a mass of people were grinding on each other to the music. We fit right into the crowd and I pulled him close to me, enjoying the contact and normalcy.

My arms were around his neck, pulling him into a kiss occasionally. We stayed like that through a few songs before deciding we needed more to drink. I followed Sam through the crowd, my hand held in his. I swear I must have had the biggest smile ever on my face when we got back to the table. Dean seemed pretty focused on something funny Beth was saying. They both looked up at us once we sat down though with drinks in our hands.

"Having fun?" Dean asked his brother with a knowing smile.

"You have no idea," Sam responded before throwing an arm around my waist.

Beth winked at me with a big grin. Suddenly I noticed her glance over my shoulder and a frown replaced it.

I looked back and my eyes caught with someone I'd rather not have seen. He smiled when he saw me, which I ignored and turned back around instantly, leaning more into Sam.

"Oh no," Beth mumbled.

I assumed that meant he was coming this way.

"Cali?"

My eyes shut quickly at the sound of my name coming from his mouth. This wasn't going to be good.

Sam was giving me a funny look and Dean looked like he wanted to punch the guy.

"Hey," I said in a lifeless tone.

"I haven't heard from you in awhile, how've you been?"

Clearly he couldn't tell I wasn't interested in talking to him.

"I'm fine."

"I haven't seen you at Charlie's for a few days. Taken some time off work?"

"No, I've been busy," I said, purposely being short with him.

He seemed to have finally noticed Sam and the way we were sitting together.

"Who's this?"

"Who're you?" Sam shot, annoyed with the guy. I could tell he was jealous.

"I'm Bryce, Cali's boyfriend."

My head hit the table and I felt Sam shift uncomfortably beside me.

"What?" Dean asked, pulling a face.

"He is not my boyfriend. We dated for a bit, but we weren't a _thing_," I said bitterly.

Bryce gave me a sour look. "I'm pretty sure we were a 'thing'," he air quoted at me, "we were together for a few months."

I rolled my eyes. "Casually dating. It was never anything official. You didn't get the hint when I stopped going out with you?"

"I figured you were busy."

"I told you I wasn't interested!"

"Why don't you admit that you've been cheating on me," Bryce snapped at me.

I gasped. "Are you serious? You can't be serious." I shook my head violently. "We aren't having this conversation, you're drunk and being a moron."

"We're definitely over now," he said to me, giving me a horrible look.

"Just go away," I said incredibly annoyed.

"You heard the lady," Dean added when it looked like he was going to say more. "Go away."

Bryce left after that and I felt Sam's arm move from around my waist.

_Great._

"Sam, we weren't dating," I assured him.

He looked a little distant and I felt my stomach drop. My good mood just flew out the window.

"Why don't we just talk about this in the morning?" he suggested in a soft tone. He had that crushed puppy look on his face and I felt like I'd somehow messed up big time.

I sighed, nodding my head gently before running a hand through my hair.

I wanted to hit Bryce. Stupid, clingy jerk. I hoped the run in with him didn't ruin anything between me and Sam. I was not a cheater, and I was definitely not with Bryce when I'd left to Bobby's days ago. Hell, I hadn't been with Bryce in a month or more. I hadn't really even meant to casually date him either, but I guess that was a story to save for the morning.


	11. Chapter 11

Pulling into the parking lot I let out a groan. I parked the car, letting my head hit the steering wheel. I am not a fan of hangovers. Slowly, I turned my car off and pulled my head up off the wheel before getting out of my car and making my way into the bar I once worked at, though Charlie's wasn't just a bar. It was kind of a hotspot for hunters.

"Calista, how are you?" a voice called from a room behind the counter.

I pulled off my sunglasses, letting my eyes adjust, and saw Charlie in the doorframe with a smile.

"Hey," I greeted him. "I'm…well, okay I suppose. Could be worse."

He nodded his head and gestured for me to take a seat.

"I take it you didn't just stop in to say hi."

I shook my head. "No. Actually I came in to let you know I'm going to be back on the road again."

"With the Winchesters?" he asked with a knowing look.

I smiled a little. "Yeah."

"I'm going to miss having you around. One of my best employees," he told me as he got a mug and poured some coffee and sugar into it before handing it to me. "Looks like you could use some."

I thanked him and took a big gulp, savoring the drink.

"Do you ever miss it?" I asked him after awhile.

Charlie gave me a confused look.

"Hunting, I mean. Have you ever just…missed it?"

He looked deep in thought for a bit before shaking his head. "No, not really. Helping people, maybe, but with everything I've been through? I wish I could have grown up living a normal life with a family like the rest of the world."

I nodded my head. "I've been wanting that my whole life."

I finished my coffee not long after, promising Charlie I'd keep in touch before I made my way back out to the car. I drew in a deep breath as I put the key into the ignition, knowing what was next on my list of things to do. I had to talk to Sam about last night. I was hoping he'd be awake by the time I got back.

It had been awkward when we'd left the bar last night, Sam didn't even ride back with me despite Lily driving my car, being one of the designated drivers last night.

After that he passed out on the pullout bed in our living room with his brother. I was quiet and made sure not to wake them when I had left this morning, but I wanted to so badly. I just wanted to get everything out in the open and clear the air between us. I really cared about Sam and I didn't want some lie Bryce made up to ruin what we might have.

"Hey, there you are!" Beth's voice rang out from the front porch once I pulled into the driveway.

"They still asleep?" I asked, assuming that's why she was having her morning coffee outside.

She nodded. "Didn't want to wake them."

She patted the chair next to her and I made my way over. I slumped down and sighed, resting my arm on the table and my face in my hand. My headache felt worse.

"You're dying to talk to him."

It wasn't a question that came from her mouth. She was so right, too.

"I knew you and Bryce dating was never going to be a good idea," she began in an almost 'I told you so' voice. "You know we can't be normal, lead normal lives. We're hunters. We were born into this."

"I don't want this though. I want to settle down, be someone for once. Not multiple different people with all this credit card fraud and stolen IDs."

She nodded her head in understanding. "I want a normal life someday too. Find a nice man, settle down and have kids. Never let them fall into this sort of thing."

We sat in silence for awhile after that, the two of us in our own little worlds imagining what we wanted for the future. Occasionally Beth would take a drink out of her coffee mug and it would break the silence for a moment.

The door swung open a little while later and I looked up to see Dean standing there.

"Morning sunshine," he said, grinning at me.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed he wasn't hungover. He barely ever was and I envied him for that.

"Is Sam awake?" I questioned him hopefully.

Dean gave me a knowing look. "Yeah, actually. He looks pretty miserable, kind of like you. So talk quietly."

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, getting up and walking past him.

He grabbed my arm before I'd fully gone inside and I saw Sam looking up from the pullout couch from the corner of my eye. I turned back to Dean with a questioning look.

"Just be honest. He's really not that upset, just kind of confused."

I gave him a soft smile. "Thanks, Dean."

He pulled the door shut behind me once I'd entered the living room. I gave Sam a small smile. He returned one slowly, patting the space beside him on the bed. I made my way through the somewhat dark room, noticing the blinds hadn't been opened yet. It made me feel even more alone there with him, which caused nervous butterflies to start up in my stomach.

"Hey," I greeted him cautiously as I sat down a few inches away from him.

"Hey," he greeted back in his deep, husky morning voice.

Sighing, I figured I'd just launch right into things. "Look, about last night with Bryce. We aren't together. We somewhat dated when I originally moved here, but we were never an actual couple. At least, I always tried to make that clear to him."

Sam nodded, keeping silent while watching me closely. He looked more tired than usual and I wondered why but decided not to ask.

"He never knew about me, about what I did. He's not a hunter. As far as he's concerned there's no such thing as demons." I shook my head, realizing I was about to get off topic. "Bryce was a nice guy, when I first met him. Didn't seem like the typical douche-bag guy. I liked him as a friend but nothing more, but he just kept asking me out for weeks. I gave in finally for just one date. Eventually I started to feel…_normal_ with him. Like I didn't just take part in ending the Apocalypse or having ever met Lucifer."

I wiped a few tears away from my eyes and apologized to him for crying. I wasn't sure why I had even started, but I felt better when he grabbed my hand in a comforting way.

"So I hung out with him a lot. I meant it in more of a friendly way. I stopped going on hunts just to do normal activities with him. But once he took things too far and got mad about me not seeing him as something more than friends, I just ignored him."

Sitting in silence, I kept my eyes averted to my feet, which were still in my flats. I felt Sam's thumb rubbing a soothing circle on the back of my hand as I waited for a response.

"So, let me get this straight," he said, turning to really look at me. "He fell for you and became delusional about the relationship?"

"I suppose if you want to put it like that?"

He shrugged. "I can see why. Anyone would be crazy not to fall for you."

I melted into his side, a big smile on my face as I buried my head into his shoulder. My face felt like it was going to burn a bright shade of red.

"Sammmm," I whined, embarrassed a little, my face still against his shoulder.

I felt his body shake with a quiet chuckle.

"Lissssss," he whined in a mocking tone.

I looked up at him and he glanced down at me, our eyes holding each other's gaze for awhile. A goofy grin was on his face and after a few seconds I began to giggle.

"So…we're good?" I asked hopefully after a few minutes.

He nodded his head, throwing his arm around me and pulling me into his side more. "Yeah, we're definitely good."

Eventually we got up and I grabbed some pills for the both of us in hopes to relieve the headaches we each had. Pouring myself my second cup of coffee for the day, I offered Sam some.

"So what are the plans for today?" he asked me as the two of us took a seat at the kitchen table.

"She's going shopping with me before she leaves," a light voice sang from the other room.

Sam smirked when Beth made her way inside with her empty mug, Dean right behind her.

"You shop?" Sam asked me, clearly amused. "When did this happen?"

I rolled my eyes. I had never been the typical girl growing up as the guys knew. I didn't have time to go on shopping trips or get my nails and hair done. Of course, that never stopped me from trying to look my best when I had the time, but I didn't have the luxury of shopping.

"Ever since I moved in here and learned it's like Beth's favorite past time and she always dragged me."

"Then you can take Sammy with you now when we're on the road. I'm sure he'd like to play dress up," Dean said, taking a jab at his brother as usual.

Sam shot his brother a glare while I tried to hide my smile.

"You boys are welcome to come with, it'll only be a few hours," Beth offered.

"No, that's alright," Dean responded quickly, "you girls go on ahead and have fun. Sam and I will probably just call up Bobby and see if he's made any progress on that last case…"

I nodded, knowing what he was talking about. He wanted to know if he'd translated any more of the book. Maybe if he figured out what 'Mother of All' meant. As I left with my best friend knowing it might be the last time I saw her for a long time, or ever for that matter, I was hoping Bobby had figured something out.


	12. Chapter 12

There was a buzzing sound beside my head and I slowly opened my eyes. Groggily I reached over and glanced at my cell phone seeing a text from Beth.

**How was the drive?**

I sighed, flipping my phone shut as I noticed the time stamp. The girl could wait a few hours for an answer, she knows I don't like mornings.

Rolling back over, I smiled softly as I saw Sam in the covers next to me. The sun was just rising and the little rays of light were shining through parts of the curtains in the cheap motel room, lighting up his brown hair and parts of his face. He was laying on his back as I snuggled a little up against his side, which caused him to roll onto his side a bit, tossing his left arm around my abdomen. I smiled, closing my eyes and enjoying the moment. It wasn't too often I could be carefree and happy.

I woke up what felt like minutes later to something warm on my forehead. My eyes fluttered open to reveal Sam pulling away as I realized he'd kissed my forehead.

"Morning," he greeted in that deep voice of his I loved hearing in the morning.

"Morning," I greeted him back, a large smile plastered across my face. "I could get used to waking up like this."

"Oh?" he asked with a grin.

"Cut it out lovebirds, we need to get out of here. So go get showered." Dean said as he shoved his toothbrush into his mouth in the doorway of the bathroom. After a pause he added, "Preferably not together unless I'm gone."

"Now you're giving us ideas, Dean," I teased him.

He made a disgusted face as he turned back into the bathroom. I laughed and stood up, stretching. Sam flipped on the TV, offering to let me clean up first once Dean finished up with his teeth. I grabbed some clothes and shut the door behind me, undressing quickly before hopping into the warm water. I vaguely heard Dean mention something about grabbing breakfast for everyone before the motel door opened and closed. By the time I got out of the shower Dean still wasn't back and my stomach was growling.

"Hungry?" Sam teased as he passed me on his way into the bathroom. "He should be back soon."

I was hoping so, but in the meantime I sat around watching the news and trying to distract my mind from thinking about Sam in the shower. I bit my lip, quickly pushing the thoughts aside as I turned my attention back to the news. As usual, more depressing stories were being reported. I sighed, turning off the TV and laying back on the half-assed made bed that Sam and I had shared last night.

I grabbed my phone and decided to text Beth back, informing her of our safe arrival last night at the motel.

"I hope your hungry," Dean said as he made his way into the room, causing me to jump.

"Starved," I told him, rushing forward to take the coffees from his hands so he could shut the door.

"I got donuts, I know you're addicted to them."

"You're my new favorite person," I joked as I attacked the box he set on the little table.

I grabbed a coffee and started stuffing a donut into my mouth. Dean grabbed one as well, plopping into the chair beside me. It wasn't long before Sam got out of the shower, his wet hair clinging to his face. I tried not to stare as I focused on my cup of coffee.

"So what now?" Sam asked his brother as he took a seat next to me on my other side, digging into the breakfast too. "Bobby has nothing new to report and we're caseless."

Dean shrugged. "Really shouldn't be too hard to find a job to work."

Sam's phone went off from the nightstand beside the bed and the three of us stared at it. Sam made a face, obviously wondering who'd be contacting him. He stood up and checked his phone, staring at it with his brows furrowed for a bit. He cocked his head to the side and let out a 'hmph' sound.

"What?" Dean asked.

Sam tossed him the phone which Dean easily caught. Glancing over his shoulder I looked at the text.

"Coordinates?" I asked, eyeing the numbers.

"Who's it from?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "I have no idea."

Dean tossed his brother's phone back to him and he sat on the bed, dialing the number. I watched from my seat, wondering who would answer. He had pulled out his laptop and turned it on.

"No answer," Sam said with a sigh before dialing it again, typing the coordinates into his laptop.

Dean went into the bathroom and came back out after a bit, obviously itching to go.

"Well?"

"Bristol, Rhode Island. Where three women disappeared in the last week," Sam told his brother. "Apparently the victims seemed to vanish into thin air."

"Could be something. Who's the text from?"

"I don't know, it just kept ringing."

I started packing up the few things I'd taken out last night before double checking the bathroom as the brothers continued to talk.

"Well wait, you're just going to drop everything?" I heard Dean ask him as I finally tuned back into the conversation.

"We aren't doing anything," I chimed in, to which both men seemed to ignore me.

"You got mysterious coordinates from a mysterious Mr. X leading to a mysterious location. That doesn't throw up red flags to you?"

Quickly I exited the motel room with the Impala's keys to pack our things into the trunk. I knew they were about to have a sibling quarrel and I didn't want to be there to witness it.

* * *

><p>We had been on the road for a little over a day before we finally reached the town Sam had gotten a text about. It was dark out and I was glad I'd dropped my car off at Bobby's on the way out here. Currently I was laying down in the backseat with my head resting on Sam's jacket like it was a pillow. It smelled like him and that alone was comforting me into wanting to sleep. I glanced up at the back of Dean's head, knowing if I had been anyone else he'd be yelling about me having my feet on his precious car's backseat.<p>

I noticed Sam seemed to tense up as we passed the welcome sign for the town, his mouth slowly opening in shock.

Dean noticed too, glancing at him with a concerned look. "What?"

"Nothing," Sam said after a moment.

I eyed him curiously. He was still all tensed up, his eyebrows knitted together. It was definitely something, but I noticed Dean wasn't prying so I figured I should just remain quiet and half asleep.

Before I knew it, I'd dozed off in the backseat. I woke up to Sam nudging my legs from the front seat.

"Hey, we stopped for food since we haven't since breakfast. You've got to be hungry."

I yawned before sitting up, rubbing my neck that now felt stiff. I followed the two inside the pirate-y themed restaurant and sighed. It was tacky, but I was hungry and we'd been to worse places.

We were seated almost as soon as we'd stepped in and once the waitress took our orders she'd disappeared. Dean pulled out some missing persons fliers that I'd wondered how he'd come across. He started trying to make up some connection between the two, claiming one of the women had a wild side because of the look in her eyes. I snorted at him.

Sam started telling him about how the women didn't have anything in common at all and I was so tired I couldn't help but tune them out. My eyes lit up once I saw the waitress bringing our food to our table. Our talk about the case died right away as we dug into our food, the three of us starved since we hadn't eaten since the morning.

I took a sip of my water as Dean stood up claiming he wanted to use the poop deck.

My eyes scanned to where he pointed as did Sam's and I started to smile.

"Real classy," I joked to Sam.

He shook his head and grinned.

"So what do you think the connection could be?"

I looked up from my drink to see him eyeing the missing girls' photos again.

"Maybe there isn't one?" I offered.

"Agent Roarke?"

I glanced up at Sam who was looking over my shoulder. I turned to see a short brunette standing there with a big smile on her face standing next to a man.

"It's good to see you again," she told him.

Sam looked totally lost but was trying to hide it. "It is," he said quickly.

"You remember my husband," she pointed to the man beside her.

"Right, of course, right." Sam stumbled out. "Uh, hi."

My eyes kept shifting back and forth wondering what was going on.

"So, you're back because it started again, right?" the woman asked, completely ignoring me as she leaned in closer to Sam.

His eyebrows raised.

"The disappearances," she offered.

Recognition crossed his face as he shot me a quick glance before turning to her. "Right, yeah. Uh, so if either of you two hear anything, please let me know?"

I saw Dean approaching the table, a small piece of paper in his hands and a concerned look on his face. I was trying to ignore the woman beside me who was obviously ignoring me on purpose as she questioned Sam about his partner. I had no idea what was going on but Dean stepped up and showed me the picture in his hands. He spoke up making some excuse about sex rehab before Sam could answer the woman, which is when Sam introduced us as his new partners.

She shook hands with Dean while continuing to ignore me. I rolled my eyes, fighting the urge to trip her.

"So agent, we should get going," I said, clearly irritated now.

Dean nodded his head.

"Of course," the woman said to Sam despite me having spoken. "It was nice seeing you again."

As she passed by him I watched her place a lingering hand on his shoulder. A frown crossed my lips. A distant look crossed Sam's face which was quickly replaced by something that looked like realization.

"What was that?" I asked him a little darkly, jealousy filling my stomach.

"She just cougar-eyed you," Dean added.

Sam spun around to glance at her at the bar with her husband, his mouth open.

"I think Samuel and I worked a case in this town."

"You think?" Dean asked him, grabbing the Polaroid from my hands and tossing it at Sam.

He picked it up and stared at it. In the background you could see him sitting at a table in the restaurant.

"Let's get the Hell out of here," Dean said, tossing some money on the table.

I noticed the urgency in Dean's voice and I quickly picked up the missing persons papers before rushing out to the car with them. I glanced over my shoulder to see that woman eyeing Sam's ass.

I scowled at the woman, not liking what was going on at all.


	13. Chapter 13

Dean was packing up his things in a rush. Last night we'd run into the woman who'd been blatantly coming on to Sam at the restaurant and Dean seemed like he couldn't get out of the town fast enough.

Sam somehow had managed to get internet access in the house we were squatting in and was doing some research. Apparently, whatever he and Samuel had hunted when he was soulless Sam hadn't been really taken care of.

Both brothers had been bickering since we'd woken up this morning. From past experiences, I stayed out of the fight, as usual.

"There's a reason hunters don't hit the same town over again," Dean warned him. "We have a habit of leaving messes behind."

"Right, I agree," Sam admitted, looking up from his laptop.

Dean continued on like he hadn't even spoken. "One of dad's rules, never use the same crapper twice."

My mouth fell open. "What?"

Sam just sat there gaping at his brother for a moment. "Everyone uses the same crapper twice."

"Not us," Dean said with finality.

Sam shot me a look that clearly was begging me to help him out. But for once I had Dean's back, and I just stared back at him with a straight face.

"This creature is still walking around cause of me, right? I let it go," Sam said, trying to use reason on us." Dad also said you finish what you start."

"Sam," I said in warning, not wanting the conversation to go south.

"Okay, I get it-"

"Do you?" Dean shot at him.

"Yes, you're afraid I'll stroll down memory lane and I'll kick this wall in my head so hard Hell comes flooding through, right? And then all the sudden I'm some drooling mess on the floor?"

"It's not a joke," Dean said with a stern look, entirely serious.

"Okay, I know, but listen," Sam said, trying again. "What's happening here right now, it's because I messed up, some how in some big way. So every person who gets taken, every person who dies," Sam paused, taking a breath, "that's on me."

Dean sighed, rubbing his temples with his hands for a moment. He was giving in, I knew it. Part of me was pretty upset that we were staying to work this case. Sam wasn't supposed to remember anything, so why should we let him?

"Alright, you go see what you can get from the cops, Calista and I will follow up with the brunettes. Cover ground faster that way," Dean muttered.

My mouth fell open again. "You're kidding right?"

Both guys glanced over at me. Sam's brows were knitted together in confusion.

"Why don't just you and I work the case and send Sam packing?" I asked Dean.

"I want to finish what I didn't fix before," Sam said, standing up and becoming a bit defensive.

"It's not safe for you!" I shot, anger boiling in me.

"I'll be fine!" Sam shot back, staring me down.

"Hey! Both of you knock it off!" Dean growled, stepping in between us. He looked from me to Sam, giving us a scolding look. "We'll give it a chance and see what happens. First sign of a problem and we're gone."

"There won't be a problem," Sam said, crossing his arms across his chest defiantly.

Dean looked back over at me. "You okay with that?"

"Of course I'm not! But clearly I have no say." I shook my head in disappointment, still feeling really pissed. "Let's just get this over with so we can get out of here sooner."

We split up after the argument, Dean and I heading to one of the girls' apartments and Sam heading off to the police station.

Once again we were dressed up as FBI agents. I had been letting Dean do most of the talking, me being too angry to be professional. Something eventually caught my eye on her counter as I was scanning the room. I slowly made my way over and picked it up, realizing why it had looked so familiar. I nudged Dean and showed him the business card. He looked it over just like I had before looking back at the girl in front of us. She seemed confused by our reaction to the card.

"Where'd you get this?" Dean asked, taking it from my hand and holding it up for her.

"Oh, Nicole got it from that FBI guy."

_Sam._

"Agent Roarke?" I asked her, "Really tall, dark brown hair?"

"Yeah that sounds like him," she answered.

I nodded my head. "How'd she get this?"

She went on to talk about how last year Sam had been there asking them all these questions about the disappearances.

"So he came by here?" Dean asked, sounding like he'd picked up on something.

I eyed him curiously. Where was he going with this?

"Oh, he came by a few times," the girl said in a tone that made a feeling of jealousy claw at my stomach.

Dean's head tilted to the side. "Did he?" he asked, tossing the card on the table and stepping over to the young woman. "To uh, speak to Nicole?"

She looked a bit fidgety now and I rounded the counter towards the pair. My anger was mixing with the jealousy now.

"Right."

"And how would you characterize their relationship?" I asked before Dean could open his mouth. He was looking at me funny now, but he turned back to the girl, awaiting her response.

"Relationship? No, they weren't having-"

"Just the tone or the nature of their conversation," I asked, cutting her off.

The blonde paused for a moment before looking away uncomfortably. "Well," she started, "loud, and…athletic?" She let out a nervous laugh.

My heart sank and I turned to Dean. "Alright, I've heard enough." I quickly exited the apartment, Dean thanking the woman for her time before rushing out after me.

"You alright?"

"Just peachy," I growled.

I pushed the door open roughly and headed straight towards the Impala. Dean was jogging behind me to keep up.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

"I don't happen to enjoy finding out Sam's screwed pretty much every female we run into here," I shot venomously. "Let's just go already."

We continued questioning others throughout the day, not having heard a word from Sam since we'd all parted ways. I wasn't in the best of moods after I'd found out about Sam's extracurricular activities in the town anyway to wonder how he was doing.

It was late by the time we headed back to the place we were squatting in. Dean and I had grabbed food, picking up something for Sam as well, before we'd decided to make our way back and regroup for the night.

"What'd you guys find out?" Sam asked the moment we stepped into the house.

I brushed past him without a glance while Dean handed his brother the bag of food.

"Lis?" Sam called after me.

"Don't," Dean warned his brother. "Just let her be right now."

I collapsed on a bed in another room, listening to the events of Sam's day of being locked up in the county jail. Afterwards, I heard Dean launch into what we'd found out.

"So that's why she's mad at me?" Sam asked in a hushed tone, probably hoping I wouldn't overhear them.

I rolled over and tuned them out. I knew I was being a little unfair to Sam, considering he hadn't had a soul and it wasn't exactly him that'd been here screwing all of these women, but it still stung. And it wasn't made any better that everywhere we went I found another girl he'd slept with.

The night came and went quickly and Dean and I woke up early, getting ready to head out. Sam was given strict orders to stay put since he apparently had a warrant for arrest for battering an officer.

Something had started coming over the police radio we'd set up last night as I was pulling my jacket on. It sounded like another missing person call.

"We'll go, you stay," Dean told his brother.

I adjusted my leather bomber jacket and headed out the door before Dean, ignoring Sam's calls after me.

"Something tells me he's not going to stay put," Dean told me as he climbed into the driver's seat of the car.

"Of course not," I mumbled, still feeling angry about everything.

"You realize it wasn't exactly Sam that had sex with all these women."

I winced at Dean's bluntness.

"Yeah."

He glanced at me and rolled his eyes. "Then what's going on? You won't even look at the guy."

"It's tough to look at him when all I can think about is every chick we've interrogated he's screwed," I admitted.

"Not every one," Dean said.

"Just, drop it, please."

About fifteen minutes later we stopped in front of a boring, normal looking house. We got out of the car and headed in. I recognized the man from the other night at the restaurant, the one who's wife kept hitting on my…well, I wasn't sure if Sam was my boyfriend or not but she was hitting on him. Apparently she was the current missing person.

We weren't at the scene long, just long enough to ask a few questions before heading back to the Impala.

"We should call Sam," Dean told me.

I continued to walk, making no effort in doing so. He rolled his eyes and whipped his phone out of his pocket, dialing speed dial and holding the phone up to his ear. I heard him mumble something about chicks being crazy. I ignored him and got into the passenger's side of the car again.

I listened as Dean explained to Sam's voicemail that the connection between the girls was that they all had 'banged' Sam and that this was a trap for him.

Dean hung up the phone before getting into the car and shooting me a look. I didn't say anything so he just rolled his eyes before starting the car.

"Okay then, radio it is," he said sarcastically, turning some music on to drown out the tension.

We pulled up at a house somewhat far out into more of a rural area of town quite a bit later. I spotted Sam standing on the porch steps looking pensive when we got out of the car.

"I knew he wouldn't stay put," Dean grumbled as we approached him.

Startled, Sam spun around and I suddenly had a gun pointed at my face.

"Whoa, whoa!" Dean said throwing his hands up.

"I almost shot you!" Sam exclaimed.

I glared at him over the barrel of the gun. "I can see that."

He lowered his weapon and the antsy look on his face disappeared, replaced with a softer one. "I'm sorry."

The way he said it made it sound like he was apologizing for more than just pointing the gun at me.

"Later!" Dean shot between us. "I figured you'd come and talk to her," Dean told Sam, turning to him. "I told you to stay put. Did you get my message? We have to get you out of here, let's go."

The drive back to the abandoned house was awkwardly silent and incredibly uncomfortable. I felt my breathing was even too loud for the tension in the air.

Once we arrived back, Sam quickly pulled out his laptop and began researching. If I wasn't mad at him I would have found it cute. I rubbed my temples as Dean began relaying all of our possible leads on the case, sounding irritated himself.

"It's an arachnid," Sam said solemnly after a bit, obviously in a bitter mood himself now.

"A what?" Dean asked.

Sam sighed. "I remembered."

This didn't please Dean or myself one bit.

"You remembered?" I asked him, knowing I sounded like a bitch how I'd said it.

"I'm sorry, what else have you remembered?" Dean asked, on the verge of getting pissed at his brother for withholding such important information from us too.

"Don't worry, alright, it's nothing to do with Hell," Sam assured the two of us.

I flinched at his statement but Dean just got even more worked up.

"We're leaving," he said for the third time since we'd been here.

The two instantly rounded in a fight, their voices rising and I threw my head in my hands. The headache I had was starting to get worse.

"I'm staying here, and I need you two to back me up." Sam glanced between his brother and me.

Dean stood there with an unreadable expression on his face. After that fight, I wasn't sure what he was going to say.

"Fine," he said eventually. "But if you start remembering anything else, you don't just keep it to yourself."

Sam nodded before shooting me an expectant look.

"Alright, alright," I said in exasperation, throwing my hands up in defeat. "Let's just figure this shit out."

We got to work pinning up maps and information to the wall. I was pinning up a missing person paper when Sam stepped over beside me. I was holding back what I wanted to say, knowing I'd regret it. I jabbed the pin into the wall with more force than necessary. That was when Sam's eyes started darting across the pictures from one to another. Dean was eyeing him with concern from across the room.

"You okay?" I asked him.

He didn't respond, his face contorting in pain. I reached out, completely forgetting how pissed I was at him right now, and placed a hand on his shoulder as Dean dropped the papers in his hands. He remained non-responsive and I gave a worried look to Dean.

Suddenly he turned to me, his breathing was a little heavy and his mouth was wide open just like his eyes.

"I know what happened," Sam informed us.

I bit my lip, knowing what just happened couldn't have been good.


	14. Chapter 14

It was freezing outside when I stepped out of the Impala, shutting the door behind me. Snow was pelting me in the face and I tried to keep my teeth from chattering. I hated winter. I hated snow. I hated being at this woman's house knowing her and soulless Sam had had sex last year.

"I'm waiting for the day we hunt something that decides it likes Hawaii and five star hotels," I grumbled to which Dean smiled at me over his shoulder. "Hey," I said, pointing in the distance. "Why are the lights on in the shed?"

"Let's check it out," Dean said, taking the lead immediately.

I fell in step beside Sam who was in total hunter mode. Our hands briefly bumped from the close proximity we had been walking in and I glanced up at him. He looked at me but quickly looked back up ahead at the shed. I frowned but brushed it off. I was supposed to be pissed at him after all.

"Well my spidey senses are tingling," Dean joked as we stepped into the dank shed.

I bit my lip holding back a laugh. Now definitely was not the time for stand up comedy.

"Sam!"

My eyes caught on the woman cowering in a corner. Sam rushed forward to her and I stood, scanning the room for some kind of a trap.

"What you did to Roy, is it true?" I heard the woman ask Sam, her voice shaking a little.

I had no idea what she was on about, but I thought I heard something behind me.

Suddenly, there was a hand on my shoulder and I was thrown into a wall. My back began aching as I tried to stand back up. That's when I realized I'd somehow been trapped in what looked like a spider web.

Sam rushed the guy, brandishing a knife, but was soon caught by his throat.

"Answer the question, Sam," the man hissed, his face just inches from Sam's.

Before I'd known how it'd happened, all the three of us found ourselves wrapped up in massive webs. I was fighting hard against my restraints, trying to break through, but it was pointless. The bonds were too strong.

The man, who I'll be honest looked like he stepped out of some messed up horror movie, strode over in front of Sam, taunting him. I couldn't believe the man's wife was just standing there as her monster of a husband was about to kill us.

"Every night I dreamed about ripping your throat out."

That caught my attention. My eyes turned instinctively to Sam. Frantically I began trying to reach for the knife I'd dropped behind me. If only I could move a few more inches, I could grab it and get free.

"The question is, do I kill you, or do I turn you?" the man asked, enjoying every minute of the whole situation.

I gasped in surprise as I saw Dean lunge forward at the man, somehow having cut himself free from the web. I fought harder to reach the knife beside me, but my fingertips just barely grazed the knife's handle.

"Come on," I begged.

Roy threw Dean back to the ground and his wife ran forward, finally trying to stop him. He pushed her aside with ease before grabbing Dean by the throat and pushing him into the wall.

I took in a deep breath and forced myself to reach, feeling my muscles protest in pain. I grabbed the knife and easily sliced a line up the web, freeing myself. The woman had grabbed a rather long blade and sliced Sam free moments later.

Wasting no time, I rushed forward brandishing my knife. I didn't hesitate, I sliced the man's head clear off. With a sickening thud it dropped to the ground with his body, rolling away a little bit.

"You alright?" I asked Dean, not able to keep my eyes on the gruesome scene.

"Yeah," he said, sounding breathless, "thanks."

Roy's wife ran forward, tears in her eyes, looking as if she was going to be sick. Sam looked defeated. No doubt thinking about how it was somehow his fault that a once innocent man was now dead because of him.

I said nothing after that as the guy's exchanged looks with each other. I just spun around and exited the shed back out into the snow. The adrenaline was wearing off and now I felt like I was going to be sick. Dean followed soon after along with the others. Once we reached the front of the house, Sam followed the woman up to the front door of her house trying so hard to talk to her. I stood by the Impala with Dean and watched from a distance. It didn't last long, she paused for a moment without turning to face him before entering her house and slamming the door on him.

I sighed, my breath becoming visible in the cold. Slowly, Sam turned around, his shoulders dropping. Our eyes caught, a sad look was on his face and it felt like someone had punched me in the heart. He looked so broken.

I began to walk toward him, forgetting about how upset I'd been with him for the past few days about something so foolish. Sam needed me, that's all that mattered. I didn't even care that Dean was watching us.

He met me halfway between the house and the Impala and I pulled him into a tight embrace, the snow swirling around us. He had his face buried in the crook of my neck and I gingerly ran a hand through his hair.

"It's not your fault, Sammy," I whispered to him.

He didn't say anything, just continued to hold onto me for dear life for a few more minutes.

"Let's go," he mumbled as he pulled away, not even looking me in the eyes. He just made his way straight towards the car, which Dean was now getting into.

Reluctantly I followed after him, getting into the backseat. The ride back to the abandoned house was silent. It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, but not a comfortable one either. No one knew what to say.

Sam sat down on one of the beds as soon as we got back. Dean stopped and stared at his brother for a minute before finally speaking up.

"You okay?" he asked.

"You were right," Sam admitted, getting up and beginning to pack a few things into his duffle bag, "we shouldn't have come back here.

"Well you did kill the uh, spider man."

Sam grunted. "So you're suggesting what I did back there was a good thing?"

"I'm just sayin-"

"What?" Sam stopped packing and spun around to look at Dean, cutting him off.

Dean ran a hand over his face in frustration before he answered. "Sam you've got to understand that all that crap last year, all of it, none of it was you."

Sam rolled his eyes, huffing loudly. "Let's be crystal clear, okay? It was me."

I shut my eyes, rubbing a hand over my temples as I felt another headache coming on.

"Can I get you anything?" I heard Dean ask.

"What are you now, my waitress?" Sam asked, his tone a cross between irritated and mild humor.

"I'm just trying to make you feel better, don't be a bitch," Dean defended himself.

I leaned against the wall in between the two rooms, my eyes still shut. My head was starting to feel like it was on the verge of exploding.

"You okay?" Dean asked gruffly.

I opened my eyes to see him looking at me. Sam had now turned to eye me curiously as well. I still had a hand to my head, trying to massage the pain away.

"Yeah, just a headache, I think."

"You think?" Dean asked, confused.

I opened my mouth to respond but was instantly cut off. Sam fell to the floor suddenly in a fit. It almost looked like he was having a seizure.

"Sammy!" I shouted, ignoring the extreme pain shooting through my head as I rushed to his side.

Dean was there in no time, kneeling down by his brother. "Sammy talk to me!" Dean demanded, grabbing hold of his brother's arm.

I felt sick to my stomach as I watched him rolling on the ground, his face contorted in pain. He was letting out ragged gasps of air and he had this distant look in his eyes.

There was a moment when he stopped breathing and I felt myself stop as well. Dean was calling his name over and over, his voice cracking a bit. That was when Sam started screaming.

Tears were in my eyes and I threw myself down on the ground against him. "Sam, please," I heard myself.

His screaming began to get worse; louder and more tortured. It was like he was being attacked by some invisible force. Tears were freely running down my face.

"Sammy, please," I begged again, running a hand down his cheek.

Slowly, his screaming quieted and he stopped the flailing of his body. He was staring up at the ceiling and the stillness and silence of the room felt painful.

Sam's eyes fluttered closed and he went impossibly rigid beneath my hands. I tensed up instantly.

Dean became just as anxious.

"Sam?" Dean called out hesitantly.

When he received no response he instinctively reached a hand to his brother's throat, checking for a pulse.

"Sammy!" Dean urged, tears in his eyes as he shook his brother.

"No. No no no no no," I began chanting.

Sam had to be okay, he just had to.


	15. Chapter 15

**Thanks for the reviews Madness is me and xxjempa1112luvSPNxx! To eliminate your confusion this story isn't a sequel, it is the first part (and possibly only part, I'm not sure if there'll be a sequel when I do end it).**

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><p>"Come on damn it," Dean pleaded desperately, his hands gripping his brother's broad shoulders.<p>

I was motionless, holding my breath. He had been lying there on the floor entirely still and silent after his fit for a few minutes. Dean had felt a pulse, so we at least knew he was alive.

Sam's eyes shot open and he inhaled a wheezy breath. I instantly felt the tension in my muscles relax and I was no longer holding my breath.

"Hey, hey, you with me?" Dean asked him urgently, his brows creased in concern.

Sam nodded his head as he took in ragged breaths. Dean pulled his brother up from off the ground very slowly, as if one sudden movement would send him back into another fit. I wiped furiously at my eyes, getting rid of the tear stains that were all over my cheeks.

"Come on we have to get you the hell out of here," Dean ordered.

In a hurry I started throwing all of our things into duffle bags while Dean threw Sam his coat before pulling his on. Sam needed to leave before he kicked that wall down again. I was positive that's what happened, which meant we had no time to waste.

Nobody said a word once we got in the car, and I would swear on my life I'd never seen Dean drive so fast. He drove straight through the night, none of us even bothered with the concept of sleep. Dean didn't even put on music. It was just pure silence and tension, everyone in their own thoughts. After the sun had fully risen Dean suggested we stop for something to eat and some coffee. No one objected so he pulled into a random town and stopped at the first place he saw. It was a little outside place.

"Donuts," he pointed out to me, giving me a half smile through the rear view mirror.

I gave him a weak smile of my own as Sam remained silent in the passenger's seat.

Dean parked the car and got out, going to order breakfast for the three of us as I stayed behind with Sam, leaning against the car. There was no snow here, but it wasn't much warmer. I was huddled inside my leather bomber jacket, eyes on Dean as he ordered. Sam was pinching the bridge of his nose like he had a bad headache. I fought the urge to bring up what happened.

Dean came back holding a tray of three coffees and a bag of what I hoped was donuts.

"How do you feel?" he asked his brother as he offered him one of the coffees than offered one to me.

I took the drink quickly, bringing it to my lips and drinking in the warm liquid. I felt awake already. My eyes turned to Sam, awaiting his response eagerly.

"I feel like I got hit by a…a planet," he said, his voice hoarse. He took a drink of the coffee in his hands.

"Well lucky for you, I'm a doctor," Dean said.

I quirked an eyebrow at him but he ignored me.

"I got joe, grub, and-" he held up a bottle of pills and shook them.

"What are they?" Sam asked, unsure.

"Effective."

Sam pulled a face. "I'm…okay, thanks."

Dean shrugged nonchalantly before putting the pills into his coat pocket. "Suit yourself."

"So how long was I out again?" Sam asked his brother before taking a drink of his coffee.

I took out some food before passing Sam the bag. He thanked me before digging in and pulling out something to eat himself.

"I'm telling you about two or three minutes."

"Why, what'd it feel like to you?" I asked curiously as Sam let out a long sigh.

"About a week," he said, glancing between me and his brother.

I choked a little on the donut.

"You want to talk about it?" Dean asked, leaning against the Impala so I was now squished between the guys.

Sam looked past me at his brother.

"It?" he asked.

"Yeah, whatever _it_ was. It was like you were freaking electrocuted."

Sam's face softened a little. He shook his head and shrugged a little. "Look, it wasn't fun, but I-I'm fine."

I noticed a little stutter when he spoke. He was not fine. I knew Dean could see it too; Sam wasn't fooling either of us.

"Fine," Dean said sharply.

A silence passed between the three of us. I heard a family a few feet away having a conversation as they got their breakfast.

"It was Hell, wasn't it?" I asked weakly.

The two looked at me as I stared straight ahead voicing what I knew Dean was thinking. "Ever cross your mind that you could have died?"

"Oh come on," Sam said, blowing it off.

"I'm serious."

Dean nodded beside me. "We did it your way. We let you go explore, and every bad thing I said would happen, happened. So guess what," Dean went on in an authoritative tone, "the past stays the past. We're not kicking that wall again."

"So I'm supposed to just ignore it?"

"Yes," Dean and I responded simultaneously.

Sam shook his head. "I might have done…who knows what. And you want me to just forget about it?"

"You shove it down and you let it come out in spurts of violence and alcoholism," Dean said.

"That sounds healthy," Sam said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Well it works for me," Dean shot back.

Another silent moment passed.

I lightly bumped my hip against Sam's, catching his attention and hoping to lighten the dark mood.

"It's not a joke, Sam. Your life's on the line. We're trying to look out for you."

"This is not a debate," Dean added. "First you were a soulless dickbag, and now you're not."

Sam looked down at his feet, kicking one shoe across the pavement.

"So we good?" Dean pressed.

"Yeah, sure," Sam said.

I wasn't sure I believed him.

"Good." Dean said, grabbing a donut from the bag now and stuffing it into his mouth. "You up for a job?" he asked with his mouth full.

Sam pulled a face at his brother's bad manners but answered anyway. "What've you got?"

He pulled a newspaper up and I wondered how I hadn't noticed it on him earlier.

"Janitor was murdered in a college lab last night. Doors were locked and nobody else was inside the building."

Sam shrugged, eating another donut. "Great, where to?"

"Patterson, New Jersey." He chuckled a little. "Maybe we'll have a Snooki sighting," he said, turning to me.

"Dear God I hope not," I said, pulling a disgusted face.

"What's a Snooki?" Sam asked, glancing between the two of us, totally confused.

"That is a good question," I mumbled into my coffee cup.

Dean stood up and we all followed suit as he got back into the car, entirely prepared to drive straight on to the next job as if nothing was wrong.

"I think we should stop somewhere for awhile and get some sleep," I suggested from the backseat.

"Oh come on, we've got a job," Dean groaned.

"She's right, we haven't gotten any sleep. We won't be of much use without it when we get there."

He let out a huge huff as he started the car. "Fine, but only a few hours. Then we go investigate this death."

I pulled my iPod out of my purse beside me, catching Sam looking over his shoulder at me from the front seat. He smiled at me, which confused me, but nevertheless I smiled back warmly at him. He seemed relieved I was done being pissed at him. I never was able to stay mad at him for very long.

I put the earbuds in my ears and shut my eyes, letting the music erase all of my current fears and worries about everything. The case. Sam. Everything.

When I opened my eyes I saw Dean looking at me in the rear view mirror talking, Sam looking back at me as well. I realized I was humming.

I pulled out one earbud and raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What the hell are you listening to?" Dean asked.

Sam chuckled. "You're humming pretty loud."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Want me to sing instead?" I felt a devilish grin creeping onto my face.

Dean frowned instantly. He knew I sang songs he hated just to annoy him. "No. Do not do that."

I opened my mouth wide, exaggerating, and he shouted before any sound came out.

I wiggled my eyebrows at Sam who nodded his head, daring me to do it. I don't turn down dares.

So I belted out the Bruno Mars song I was listening to. "What ya don't understand is I'd catch a grenade for ya. Throw my hand on a blade for ya." I noticed Dean rolling his eyes and Sam was grinning really wide, his eyes shooting back between both of us. "I'd jump in front of a train for ya." I swear I heard Dean mumble something about shoving me in front of a train. "You know I'd do anything for ya. I would go through all this pain, take a bullet straight through my brain." I reached out and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, his face becoming more irritated by the gesture. "Yes I would die for ya baby, but you won't do the same."

Sam broke out into fits of hysterics and I stopped my serenading as Dean told me how badly he wanted to kick me out of his car.

"Oh come on, Dean-y. The song is so fitting," I teased him.

I gave him a cheeky grin before winking at Sam and putting the earbud back in my ear, going back to listening to my music in silence until we reached a motel.

As usual, the place we pulled up at wasn't the nicest, but it was better than sleeping all cramped and uncomfortable in the backseat of the Impala. We wasted no time getting a room at the front desk as soon as we arrived and as we made our way towards the room, I readjusted the strap of my duffle bag for the hundredth time.

Dean had unlocked the door and in no time I was rushing inside and tossing my duffle bag off my shoulder. I ran straight at the first bed in the room and jumped on it, landing on my stomach not even caring about how dirty it probably was.

"Oh so comfy!" I squealed, closing my eyes.

Sam chuckled and nudged my legs. "Move over, bed hog."

I grinned, rolling off the bed and wasting no time crawling beneath the sheets. I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	16. Chapter 16

Stifling a yawn behind my hand, I sat cross legged on the motel bed. The three of us sat there in silence just looking around the room.

"I had a horrible dream," Dean said after a moment in all seriousness.

"About what?" Sam asked concerned.

Dean looked up and pointed at me. "You wouldn't stop singing."

I started laughing. "Baby tonight, the DJ got us falling in love again. So dance, dance like it's the last night of your life-"

"Stop!" Dean shouted, throwing his hands over his ears when I started singing again.

"I know none of these songs," Sam said with a chuckle.

"Good," Dean said sternly.

I elbowed Sam softly as he sat beside me. "Don't worry, I'll catch you up."

Dean gave me a death glare before telling us to get cleaned up quick before we hit the road again. In what I believe was record time for us, we were cleaned up and were in our fake FBI uniforms. Climbing into the Impala, Dean turned his stereo on, cranking up the volume and giving me a satisfied look over his shoulder before we tore out of the motel parking lot.

We only were about two hours from our destination and so the drive wasn't nearly as long, but my ass was starting to get sore from sitting on it so much. I forgot how boring it could be living on the road again. I forgot about all of the long drives.

Sam was asleep in the passenger seat and he looked uncomfortable the way his head was resting. Dean was singing along to his music, tapping the beat out on the steering wheel as we sat at a stoplight. Despite how boring the drives could be, I knew I loved being here with them.

These were my boys. This was my life. Sure, I wanted out of hunting. I wanted to settle down, and many times lately I daydreamed about Sam and I getting married and buying a nice two story house. Maybe having kids. I knew the thoughts were getting ahead of myself, it's not like he'd ever admitted that he wanted that with me, but more and more I found myself wanting that with him.

"We're here," Dean announced, cutting his music off suddenly and killing the engine.

Sam lifted his head up from the seat, rubbing his neck which was most likely sore now. We piled out of the car and eyed up the building, noticing the cop cars.

We waltzed confidently into the crime scene after flashing our badges and lying through our teeth to the police officers. Taking a look around the room, we found ourselves standing next to an anatomy dummy. Dean started toying with it, pulling it's organs out and looking at them.

"Dean, that doesn't look very professional," I whispered in a hushed tone, hoping none of the officers were paying us any mind.

He pulled out the heart and turned to me. With a straight face he extended the heart and said, "Be my valentine?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"Dude, we're working. Put it back," Sam said, taking my side.

Dean paused for a moment before saying, "Have a heart." He chuckled at his own joke. "Buzzkill."

"Do you smell sulfur?" I asked, sniffing the air a little.

"Yeah, we're in a science lab," Sam told me.

"Right…" I said, still not fully convinced that explained it.

Dean's phone went off suddenly.

"Who is it?" Sam questioned his brother.

Dean was looking at the phone for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face before he ignored the call.

"So, Lisa," Sam said knowingly.

"Maybe you should mind your own business."

"What's wrong with just talking to her Dean?"

Dean made one of his usual sarcastic comments as I pulled an EMF detector from my jacket pocket when the cops were on the other side of the room. I turned it on and it started going crazy instantly.

"Ghosts gone wild. Something's up in here," Dean pointed out.

"Question is what," Sam mumbled.

I turned off the EMF detector and slid it back into my jacket pocket as Dean pointed out a security camera.

We asked the police for the surveillance tapes and were brought to a small room that was dimly lit with a few screens on a desk and a few chairs. I stood in between the brothers as they sat down and started reviewing the film, my eyes scanning over it.

Once we fast forwarded to the part of the janitor coming down the hallway and into the room, we slowed it down to watch, all of us leaning in closer as if that would help figure things out. One minute the guy was mopping the floor, the next he was laying there, dead. Whatever killed him completely messed up the tapes on purpose so it wouldn't be seen.

"Nothing like making things more difficult," I muttered, the guys nodding in agreement.

Sam decided it would be a good idea to question the janitor's girlfriend, so we left to find the guy's apartment. Dean and I waited in the car while Sam ran inside. He wasn't gone for long, but right before he came out Dean's phone went off. He pulled it out and glanced at it with a frown. I kept quiet in the backseat despite wanting to open my mouth. From Lisa, I assumed.

I turned to look back out the window and Sam was taking quick strides through the light rain. He got back into the car, his clothes a little damp and his hair sticking to his face in places.

"So what'd you find out?" Dean asked as he quickly shoved his phone away.

"Nothing, just how great he was. Went to church, donated to charity, rubbed her feet during Glee," Sam listed off.

"I just threw up in my mouth," Dean threw in.

"Sorry," Sam said quickly. "Checked his records. Spotless."

"So we got nothing?" I asked from the back.

"Big steaming pile of it," Dean said bitterly.

I sunk back into my seat, staring out the window. I hated having no leads.

"Motel?" Sam suggested.

Dean nodded and we found ourselves a place to spend the night. Once we got in the room I was crawling under the sheets while Dean flipped through TV channels. Sam, as usual, was ever vigilant trying to find something on his laptop.

The morning after I woke up to Sam informing the two of us about another dead body found at a factory the same as with the janitor. So, after getting ready and pulling on our FBI uniforms, we headed out to the crime scene.

We entered right as they were zipping the man's body up in a body bag and I quickly averted my eyes.

The three of us made our way around the room, looking at everything. When Sam called us over he pointed out that his EMF detector was humming. We'd never had one _hum_ before.

"Mannequin parts?" I asked as I noticed what he was holding the device over. My stomach churned. Mannequins freaked me out.

"Wait!" Sam said, clearly making a connection. "That anatomy dummy you were molesting at the lab."

I snorted, holding back a laugh at his choice of words and the way Dean said 'excuse me' in a slightly offended tone.

"What if that's what this is about?" Sam continued.

Dean shot his brother a look. "What exactly are you accusing me of?"

This time I did laugh a little.

"I don't mean that, I mean there was an anatomy dummy there, and here-" Sam pointed at the mannequin beside Dean.

I backed up next to Sam a bit so I was standing in front of the mannequin.

"You're joking," I said, a little afraid as I eyed the lifeless thing up.

Sam looked at me.

"You're not joking," I said, freaking out now.

"So what we've got a bunch of killer dolls? Like Chucky?" Dean asked, stepping up to the mannequin. "I mean come on, that's just…"

"Freaking creepy?" I supplied for him.

Sam went on to bring up a point about ghosts being able to possess humans and objects, making mannequins not out of the question. Dean turned around and brought up another good point about ghosts not normally traveling this far of a distance.

"It doesn't add up," I said, eyeing the room in thought.

"So we dig," Dean said.

"Over there," I said urgently, trying to get far away from the creepy mannequin without a real face.

I pulled Dean away from it once he started waving his hand in front of its 'face'.

"Stop, you're freaking me out," I told him.

An hour later we were digging up what we could on the victim. Finding nothing, I sighed in my seat.

"I can't find a speck of dirt on him," Dean announced hopelessly.

Sam made a noise from his seat as he eyed his laptop. "Well here's a speck."

I leaned over.

Sam went on rattling off information about a woman who had been missing.

"Fifty bucks, vengeful spirit," Dean said finally.

"Pay sis a visit?" Sam suggested.

Dean and I nodded before his phone started ringing again.

I raised my eyebrows at him. This was the third time in two days Lisa had tried to get a hold of him.

"Answer it," I demanded.

Dean shot me a look but I held his gaze. If she was calling that much it wasn't just to say 'hi'.

Reluctantly he did, and Sam and I shamelessly eavesdropped through the entire one-sided conversation.

We both practically forced Dean into the Impala once he'd hung up the phone with Ben, who had been calling Dean from his mother's phone. We walked him out to the car and Sam even had opened the door for him.

"We can handle this for 24 hours," I reassured him.

In his usual stubborn way, he grudgingly got into the car and drove off towards Lisa's.

Sam turned to me with a smile. "Looks like it's just us again."

I winked. "So it does."

"Let's go interview the sister and get this over with. Maybe have another date when it's all over?" he offered.

I grinned. "Sounds like a plan."


	17. Chapter 17

The interview with, Isabel, the girl's sister was fairly short. We had finally found a lead and something to go on by the time we left, Sam quickly pulling out his cell to let his brother know about the turn of events.

It was raining again as we made our way back to the rental car we'd picked up. Side-stepping puddles, I was scanning the neighborhood, listening to Sam's side of the conversation. He was walking pretty fast and I was following behind him, occasionally catching a nice view of his ass.

The rest of the day went by really fast, Sam and I splitting up. He dropped me off at the campus where the first death had happened while he conducted interviews at the factory. I felt this was pointless seeing as the connection we found led straight back to the man at the factory, but I didn't fight Sam since he seemed to be deep in thought about something. I hadn't been sure what, but when I asked he just avoided answering me.

Just like I had suspected, I found nothing new after my interviews. I was sitting outside trying to keep out of the rain while I waited for Sam to show up.

"Find anything?" He asked after I had been waiting for about fifteen minutes. He was leaning over the seat talking out the rolled down window.

"No, nothing," I huffed, getting into the car and tugging my blazer jacket tighter around me. "You?"

"Yeah, there was a guy who seemed a bit strange when I brought up Rose. I think he's got some kind of connection to her death."

"So what now?"

"Dinner?"

I glanced over at him, taking in the hopeful expression as his eyebrows rose in anticipation.

"Sure but can we change first?" I begged him.

He chuckled before agreeing and we soon pulled up back at the motel. I quickly pulled out some very casual clothes from my duffle bag before rushing into the bathroom and getting changed. By the time I came out I saw Sam pulling a shirt over his head, and my eyes trailed down his chest. I caught myself staring before he had a chance to turn around and notice.

I cleared my throat as I glanced away, feeling a burning in my stomach. I had forgotten how nice Sam's body was.

"Ready?" he asked, stepping up beside me with a big smile.

"Yes," I said.

He opened the motel door, gesturing for me to head out first.

"Such a gentleman," I teased over my shoulder as I left the room.

I swear I saw him blush as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Dinner went by like any date would, which was a definite nice change to how our normal daily lives were. I really enjoyed spending time with Sam. I noticed whenever we did that we seemed to forget about what we did for a living and all of our current problems going on.

"I like having time to just spend with you, Sam," I confessed once we left the restaurant.

It was dark out now and the rain had finally stopped. Strolling down the sidewalk of the town's downtown, I felt his hand reach over and grab mine. He entwined our fingers and I glanced over giving him a smile.

"I do too," he admitted after a moment. "If Dean were here he'd be cracking jokes about us every few seconds."

I leaned into his side and nodded. "And it's nice to just stop thinking about the case for awhile. We never usually get time to do anything for just us."

I felt Sam's head leaning against the top of mine as we approached the rental car and I couldn't stop smiling. Everything was perfect.

He lead me to the passenger side of the car, opening the door for me to let me in before rushing around to get in on his side.

"I'm starting to like this gentleman in you, Sammy," I teased him again.

"Honestly, I've never done this for any other girl before," he confessed.

He started the car but a frown soon covered his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I just have this feeling. That guy I told you about earlier, I get the feeling he's going to be the next one dead at the factory."

We sat there in the car for a moment, thinking. "Let's go check it out then. No harm in that."

He nodded, steering the rental car out of the parking lot. It was a silent drive as we made our way to the building. It looked eerie in the darkness as we approached it, pulling up slowly. Sure enough there was another car parked outside. The two of us slid out of the car and quietly inside. It wasn't long before we heard a man who sounded panicked in a room nearby. We raced over to where the voice was coming from to see a man bleeding from his forehead like the other dead bodies we'd found.

Sam ran up to him, grabbing him by the arm. "Come on," Sam urged the guy.

I was pulling a container of salt out of my bag as we raced towards an adjoining room. Once inside I started on creating a circle along with salting the windows.

"What's going on?" the guy asked, freaking out as he looked back and forth between the two of us.

Sam looked up from pouring the salt but I continued to make the salt circle.

"That was a ghost, trying to kill you for being a dick," Sam said harshly, tossing the guy a nearby towel for his bleeding forehead.

"What?"

"You know what? You're lucky you were the most suspicious interview of all time," Sam began again, rounding on the guy.

"What is going on?" the guy pressed again.

I sighed. "We don't have time to explain everything."

"Rose is back," Sam said roughly once he finished salting the doorway.

"That's crazy," the guy said in disbelief as he stared at us.

"You're going to end up like your friends unless you tell me what you did to Rose," Sam told the guy.

I finished salting the windows and turned around, my eyes narrowing at the man. He stood there, mouth open, looking frightened.

"Do you want us to help you or not?" I snapped, somewhat upset that Sam's gut instinct had been right, ruining our alone time.

He swallowed hard, telling us about some prank he pulled on Rose with his friends at work. They had been teasing her about having a secret admirer and about how they had her meet them at some apartment. She ended up accidentally dying, her head hitting a coffee table pretty hard.

I glared at the guy in front of me. "What an asshole thing to do."

"Where'd you bury the body?" Sam asked, getting to the point.

"In the woods, in a clearing off of King and Run road."

Sam headed towards the exit with me following close behind. The guy stood as well as if to follow but we stopped him before he could.

"Sit tight, and don't leave the circle until we tell you its safe," I told him darkly.

"You just want me to stand here all night?" he asked in disbelief.

Sam spun around with an irritated look. "Consider it getting off easy."

We raced out of the factory and into the rental car in no time at all. It wasn't long after pulling out of the parking lot that we ended up at the place where the girl's body had been dumped.

Both of us got to work quickly, unburying the body in twenty minutes. We salted her body and Sam struck a match, dropping it into the hole. We watched it for a bit, making sure everything had caught fire before putting it out and recovering her back up.

"I hate doing that," I admitted to Sam afterwards.

"Me too."

He whipped out his cell phone and called the guy back, letting him know he was safe. Part of me wanted to let him stay there for awhile as some form of punishment for being a dick.

Afterwards, we dropped off the rental and got a taxi back to the motel, Sam holding my hand as we sat in the back seat. Dean had sent Sam a quick text letting him know he'd be back as soon as he could, so when we got back to the motel room we just both passed out in our beds. Neither of us was really in any mood to continue the good night we'd started to have after what we'd just dealt with.

In the morning, Sam had woken up to a call about another dead body. We quickly dressed into our fake FBI uniforms and rushed over to the scene, confused as to how there could have been another person dead. We thought we'd solved the whole problem late last night.

Police were everywhere in the room. Johnny, the guy from last night, was dead on the floor, strangled. I nudged Sam and pointed to a sex doll on the couch. He pulled a weird look before stepping away a bit and calling up Dean no doubt. I surveyed the scene while Sam left a voicemail message.

"Sister's house?" I asked him once he hung up and appeared by my side.

He nodded and once again we were off to Isabel's place. She seemed surprised to see us again, and slightly weirded out by our questions, but let us in all the same.

We started digging through the box of things she had of Rose's items, but nothing contained anything that was actually a part of her. This was becoming hopeless.

Sam suddenly started putting things together, I could tell by the look on his face.

"This is all about you," Sam said finally, looking at the girl.

"What is?" she asked him, not following.

"The murders. The co-workers, your college janitors," he went on.

The girl cut him off abruptly. "You think I could do something like that?"

"No, no," I assured her.

"I think you're at the center," Sam told her.

"Me? How?" she asked, her eyes watering up.

"What are you wearing of Rose's?" Sam pried desperately.

"You're scaring me," she said, shaking her head.

"Just think," I coaxed her, shooting a look that told Sam to take a deep breath.

Suddenly the sister's face changed.

"What?" I asked her, noting the change.

"The only thing I have of hers is apart of me. When I was sixteen she gave me one of her kidneys."

I felt like someone hit me with a truck. What the hell were we supposed to do now?

Sam decided to take the girl with us to meet back up with Dean, who had finally showed up. We met up in a parking lot, us driving a car Sam had hotwired. Dean quickly exited the Impala and I got out of the shitty boxy car and headed towards the older Winchester, wishing it would stop raining for just one day in this stupid town.

I hugged my jacket around me tighter, eyeing the girl in the car who looked a little frightened as the brother's caught up on the current situation.

"I've got an idea," I said, laughing humorlessly to myself. "Why not just drug her and let her wake up in a bathtub of ice missing a kidney," I said sarcastically.

Dean gave an amused grin while Sam just ignored me, continuing on with the discussion.

I watched as the girl got out of the car and ran over.

"Voodoo?" the girl asked, obviously a little freaked out, "What are you talking about?"

"Actually, it's Hoodoo," Dean told her, causing me to slap him on the arm.

"You're not Feds," she said, finally realizing it. I couldn't believe it took her this long to figure that one out.

Suddenly, Dean's precious Impala roared to life behind us.

"No, no way," Dean said.

"That's impossible," Isabel said, looking even more freaked out.

"No, no no no no. She possesses sex dolls, this is not a sex doll!" Dean exclaimed as the headlights turned on. "You leave my baby alone!"

The car lunged forward and Sam and I quickly pulled the sister over to the stolen vehicle and out of the way as the Impala raced after Dean. If the situation was different I would have found the sight amusing.

He kept running trying to get away and Sam and I raced forward, trying to find a way to stop the possessed car.

"Son of a bitch!" I heard Dean shout as he stopped in front of a building, cornered.

The car continued forward until it rammed into the wall, Dean jumping out of the way just in time.

"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly as I ran up to Dean.

"Yeah," he said, totally out of breath. "I'm good. You guys?"

I glanced to Sam, nodding my head. That's when he noticed the girl bleeding from her mouth just before she fell to the ground. The three of us immediately rushed to her side. Her abdomen was covered in blood I noticed.

"Isabel?" Sam asked as he kneeled beside her.

Her eyes averted to something just behind my shoulder and I looked over to see nothing but the Impala that was still crashed into the building. I turned back and the girl had tears in her eyes.

Suddenly, Isabel just went limp. The three of us sat there, staring at the dead girl in front of us. This is not how things were supposed to go. She was innocent!

Dean had a dark look on his face while Sam was staring at the girl's form, his mouth opened in shock.

How could this have happened? How could we have let this happen?

* * *

><p>Two days later we were at Bobby's place. I was sitting outside watching as Dean was working on the Impala. We had just been discussing Sam's episode from the other week, but the conversation ended when I'd pointed out Sam's form approaching us through all of the cars.<p>

"How's it look?" he asked, gesturing to the car as he handed Dean a beer.

Dean wiped the grease from his hands and cracked open the can before taking a long drink. Sam came over to where I was sitting and leaned up against the wall next to me before handing me a beer as well.

"Well seeing as she got carjacked by poltergeist, could be worse," Dean grumbled before taking another drink. "What exactly did we do back there?" Dean asked, glancing between the two of us.

The same question had been on my mind ever since Isabel died. We hadn't accomplished anything. People still died. We failed.

Sam gave a long sigh before shaking his head. "Yeah, I'm not putting it in the win column either."

"We saved a few dicks and we killed an innocent girl," I mumbled, my eyes fixed on the Impala. I took a rather long sip of the beer in my hands.

"I got a heartbroken kid and a woman who's so pissed at me…" Dean went on, causing me to look up. He hadn't told us really everything that had happened when he'd gone to see Lisa. "I see what you mean about facing your past. It's uh, it's awesome, thanks."

"Dean," Sam said softly, trying to console his brother.

Dean ignored him and continued on. "All we do is make a mess."

"That's not true," Sam told his brother, a sympathetic look on his face, "we do save lives now and again."

"Yeah I guess," Dean responded in a quiet voice, something unusual for him. "I'm just tired of all the bad luck, you know?"

I stood up and placed a hand on Dean's shoulder. He glanced over at me and I offered him a smile.

"Well, bad luck is kinda in the job description."

"And it's not all bad luck," Sam added, "I mean look at me. Satan's left the building."

"Yeah," Dean said in a saracastic manner, "it's the little things."

"And I have a soul," Sam said, trying harder to make Dean see some positives about our situation. "Because of you. I never thanked you for that, did I?"

It wasn't often the three of us found ourselves in such an emotional moment. Usually Dean ended them before they started.

"It's all good man," Dean said trying to brush it off as usual.

"Well thanks."

"You'd have done the same for me," Dean told him.

"I mean it," Sam urged. "Look, we keep our heads down, keep swinging, we'll lose some but hopefully we'll win more."

A silence passed between us as we all stood there staring at the Impala, deep in our own thoughts.

"For what it's worth, I got your guys' back," I offered, glancing between the two.

"Yeah, I know," Dean said, giving me a half smile.

Sam gave me a small, sad smile of his own.

I opened my arms wide, forcing a smile on my face. "C'mere, group hug."

Sam chuckled softly as the two wrapped their arms around me. I was surprised when Dean hadn't put up a fight, seeing as he hated moments like this.

"How about I go order us a bunch of pizzas and get some movies for tonight? I think all of us could use a break," I offered.

The brothers pulled away and looked down at me as I stood there with a grin on my face, trying so hard to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Dean said, taking another sip of his beer. "I could use a break."

I grinned, giving Dean one more hug to which he surprised me again for not complaining about. Turning around I pulled Sam into a hug, which he seemed to not want to let go of me at all during. I gave him a quick peck on the cheek before he mumbled a 'thanks' to me, referring to having helped to cheer up his brother.

"I'd do anything for my boys," I told Sam in a whisper.


	18. Chapter 18

Thunder and lightening were the only sounds in Bobby's house. There was a violent storm raging outside as I sat on a chair reading a book. We were all deep in research the last couple of days. Dean was behind Sam's laptop scouring the internet even.

"Where's Bobby?" Sam asked as he came back into the room.

"In town, supply run," Dean told him, eyeing the empty bottle of alcohol in his hand.

Sam's eyes went wide as he gestured a thumb towards the window. "In this?"

"Mans a hero," Dean told him.

The lights started flickering and my gut told me it wasn't from the weather. I closed the book in my lap and glanced around.

"Hello boys," a voice rang out, the man turning to look down at me with a little grin. "And lady."

We all stared at the angel wide eyed.

"You've seen Godfather right?" he asked as he made his way over towards Dean.

"Balthazar?" Dean asked, entirely confused as to why he was here.

The angel continued on ignoring Dean as he recounted the end of the movie. He placed a bowl on the table and started mixing a bunch of gross things together. I was too stunned to say anything. He had just showed up out of nowhere.

Dean kept trying to interrupt him, but all he accomplished was getting a cheeky comment from the angel who continued on making something on Bobby's desk, mumbling something about 'blood of lamb'.

Suddenly he appeared over by Bobby's fridge holding a massive glass jar of what he claimed was blood of lamb. I pulled a face, feeling like I never wanted to eat anything from Bobby's fridge again.

"Why are you talking about the Godfather?" Sam called over to him.

"Because we're in it, right now, tonight."

I furrowed my brows. What was that supposed to even mean?

"You mind telling us what you mean?" Dean growled at the guy.

All of us hated the way angels always beat around the bush instead of just stating things straight out. Irritating was an understatement.

Balthazar ignored Dean as he dumped the glass container from Bobby's fridge into the bowl and started dumping out the contents of a box. "No, no, no!" he mumbled.

Sam and I exchanged a disgusted look while Dean crossed his arms, getting pissed by the minute.

"Yes!" the angel exclaimed as he uncovered something in a box, glancing to us briefly. "Your Mr. Singer does keep a beautiful pantry."

"Wait Raphael is after you?" Dean concluded.

"Raphael is after us all," Balthazar replied, crushing the bone of a lesser saint into the bowl of his gross mixture.

"What are you doing?" I asked, though was promptly ignored.

"He's consolidated his strength, and now he's on the move."

"Where's Cas?" Sam asked the angel.

Balthazar rushed over towards the window, mixing the ingredients around. "Oh, Cassie? He is deep, _deep_ underground."

The three of us exchanged worried glances.

Balthazar continued on about how Raphael had a hit list put out on us. My hand reached out to hold Sam's nervously. He glanced down at me and gave my hand a squeeze.

As they continued talking about Raphael's plans, I was paying a lot of attention to the symbol the angel was now rubbing onto the window with the nasty mixture. It was a reddish color and to my stomach's distaste I figured it was from that lamb's blood.

The lights began to flicker again and I let go of Sam's hand, jumping in shock.

"And that's all the time we have," Balthazar said suavely.

He approached the three of us and began searching inside his jacket for something. That's when we all got a good sight of a big, bloody mark on his shirt.

"What happened?" Dean asked quickly, pointing to the blood.

The angel explained briefly in his usual manner before handing me a set of keys.

"That's for you," he told me with a grin.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" I asked him, trying to keep my voice from wavering in fear, eyeing the keys suspiciously.

"Run with it," Balthazar said, still making no sense to me at all.

I gulped, quickly shoving it into my jacket pocket. Balthazar was suddenly thrown across the room by a man in a long dark trench coat. He looked like Castiel's opposite.

"I said, run!" Balthazar shouted as he stood from the floor. He raised a hand and suddenly the three of us flew through the window he'd been painting the symbol on.

I tried to cover my face with my arms, not wanting to get cut up with glass. Landing on something that felt like a mattress, my breath was knocked from my body momentarily. I was surprised at the soft landing, but also at the fact I didn't feel as if I'd been cut.

The three of us caught our balance and stood up. There was a group of people, probably twelve or more all staring right at us. One of them shouted 'cut' and there was clapping that ensued his words.

"Really good, solid fall, way to go," a man with a yellow shirt said before smacking Dean on the ass.

My mouth dropped.

The man who yelled cut began talking again. "Jared, Jensen, and Hannah, that was outstanding! That was great."

I glanced over at Sam and shot him a look that asked him what the hell was going on. He shrugged deeply, his brows furrowing.

What did Balthazar do?

A guy walked up behind us announcing something that I didn't fully understand. Buzzing was heard and the three of us carefully stepped off the blue mat, our eyes wandering around the darkly lit room. I turned around to look into what _was_ Bobby's house moments before. Lights were set up and there were a bunch of people messing around with wires.

"So, no angels," Sam said in a shaky voice as we all continued to survey the room.

"Should we be killing anybody?" I offered nervously.

"I don't think so," Dean said in a gruff whisper. "Other than the man who grabbed my ass."

"Running?" Sam offered.

"Where?" Dean asked back.

Sam was eyeing inside the fake room of Bobby's as Dean and I listened in to some guys talking about something to do with us jumping out of the window. Sam picked up a piece of the glass we had jumped through and was shaking it in front of our faces. It wobbled about like gelatin.

Suddenly someone shouted "moving on!" and the lights in the building came back on so it was no longer so dark.

"That's a rap on Jared, Jensen and Hannah," I saw a guy shout into a radio.

"Who the hell are-" Sam started to ask but was instantly cut off by a girl who ran up to him.

"Jared!" she called, grabbing his arm and leading him away.

I began giving the death glare to the back of her head as Sam was looking over his shoulder at me for help.

Dean went to follow but another girl came over and grabbed him and pulled him away in a different direction.

I stood there awkwardly until a third girl came up and grabbed me, calling me 'Hannah' and pulling me off after Dean.

I was settled into a chair in front of a mirror beside Dean who looked like he was about to start breaking anything in sight.

My eyes were scanning around the pictures along the mirror. Photos of Sam all bloodied up and in his fake FBI suit lined one part, then pictures of Dean when he was a few years younger along with him making a face in some pictures. Further along towards where I sat there were photos of me all bloodied up as well, and some with the three of us holding up beers or making faces at the camera. My mouth dropped open as I scanned all the pictures, Dean doing so as well.

The girls grabbed a tissue and started wiping our faces. The one who was working on Dean said something about getting make up off of us and that caught his attention immediately.

I frowned. I hadn't put on make up today.

Dean grabbed the woman's hand as she started wiping his face as he began to reassure her that he wasn't wearing make up. But his eyes went wide when he saw the foundation on the tissue she'd just wiped on his skin.

"Oh crap, I'm a painted whore," Dean mumbled as he wiped a hand down his cheek.

The women gave us weird looks after that, asking what was wrong.

"You guys are funny," the one next to Dean finally said, thinking we were joking around. "I got it."

They both quickly finished up and Dean and I rushed off together as far as we could from those chairs. Minutes later we ran into Sam and I was grateful.

"Hey," Sam said awkwardly.

"Dude they put freakin' make up on us," Dean growled between gritted teeth. "Those bastards."

"Look, I think I know what this is," Sam said, trying to remain calm.

"What?" I asked, hoping that meant he knew how to get us the hell out of there.

"It's a TV show," Sam told us.

My heart dropped. "Thanks captain obvious."

"No I mean here. Wherever here is. For whatever reason, our life is a TV show," Sam said urgently.

My brows furrowed together in confusion as I awkwardly threw my arms across my chest.

"Why?" Dean asked in utter confusion.

Sam gave a big shrug and threw his hands up, "I don't know."

"No seriously, why, why would anybody want to watch that?" Dean asked, obviously disturbed.

Our lives weren't great by any means. There was a mass of death and destruction that followed the three of us around. Who in their right mind would think that's entertaining?

"According to the interviewer not many people do," Sam added.

"This is crazy," I mumbled, the three of us starting to walk again. To where, I had no clue.

"I didn't say it made sense," Sam went on. "In this universe, you're Jensen Ackles," Sam said to his brother before looking to me, "and you're Hannah Burkett, and I'm something called a Jared Padelecki."

Dean turned to Sam with an angered face. "So what, now you're Polish?"

Despite the situation, I couldn't help but give a snort of laughter but quickly covered it up behind my hand. The guys gave me an annoyed look.

"Sorry," I mumbled before clearing my throat.

We made our way through a door and I was glad we'd found our way outside. Not that that did much help.

Dean's face lit up into a huge smile when he saw the Impala, glad his car had made it. Sam and I stopped briefly to give each other worried looks but continued on after Dean.

Suddenly a man came up with a bucket and a paintbrush and began throwing something onto the windshield.

Dean began to shout at the guy and rushed forward as Sam and I quickened our pace behind him. He stopped when he saw the line of cars. There were at least five Impalas in the lot all next to each other. Some busted up in different places and some looked fine.

Spinning around, Dean placed a hand on my shoulder to steady himself. I swear he was turning green.

"I feel sick," he announced.

I gave him an apologetic look and glanced over up at Sam who's mouth hung wide open.

"We need Cas," I announced as we quickly got away from the row of Impalas for Dean's sake.

"Worth a shot," Dean said, bending his head over and doing his version of a 'prayer'.

He sounded ridiculous but I didn't say anything. Moments later I spotted Cas and pointed him out to Dean.

"Cas, thank God!" Dean shouted, racing over to him.

"What did Balthazar do to us?" I called out, racing over to the angel as well.

Something about the way the angel responded seemed off to me as I listened to him reply. Cas then asked me for the key, which I pulled out of my pocket and handed to him. He told us the key opened a room to every weapon Balthazar had stolen.

"He gave it to us?" I asked, shocked.

"To keep it safe," Castiel said.

"So, now, what's the deal with all this TV crap?" Sam asked.

"Pardon?" Castiel asked back.

The brothers began talking at the same time about how stupid it was we had been sent to this alternate reality by Balthazar.

"Man," Castiel groaned, causing my eyes to widen. Castiel doesn't groan. "They put out new pages already?" He pulled some papers out of his pocket and studied them.

"Is this a joke?" Dean spat. "Cause if it is, its stupid and we don't get it."

Castiel began to loosen his tie with a chuckle. "You guys okay?"

Dean ripped the paper from the man's hand, reading it quickly and discovering that he had been speaking lines from the script.

"You guys want to run lines or-" The guy started but was cut off.

"His names Misha!" Dean scoffed.

I eyed the not-Castiel in front of us through narrowed eyes. "Misha?" I asked in disbelief.

Quickly, I ripped the key back from out of his hands and put it back into my pocket, the guys and I stalking off.

"Misha? Jensen? What's with the names around here?" Dean spat out.

"Oh, you guys really punked me!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see _Misha_ with a big grin on his face. I grabbed both brothers' arms and started dragging them away faster.

"I'm totally going to tweet this one!" he called out after us.

"What the fuck?" I asked, knowing neither guy had an answer.

We stopped when Sam pointed out a big trailer with 'Jensen's' name on it.

"That's fake me. This must be fake mine," Dean said before we piled onto the trailer.

It was decked out with a large fish tank and quite a few fancy things that looked expensive. Like a helicopter.

Sam quickly dropped down to the laptop and started typing things in, trying to research this Jensen Ackles fellow.

Dean picked up a magazine from off the coffee table. On the cover were the two of them. I rushed over and picked it up from his hands, holding back a laugh as Dean teased his brother about the 'blue steal' look. Sam brushed it off as "apparently that's our jobs", but I saw him blushing.

"It says your from Texas," Sam went on as he read off the laptop. "Oh, says you were on a soap opera."

I burst out laughing and rushed over to Sam. "Youtube, now."

Dean whined and came over to the laptop, the three of us now crowding around a clip on Youtube of a younger version of Dean. It was probably the funniest thing I'd ever seen in my life. Dean shot me a death glare when Sam finally paused it.

"I don't like this universe, Sammy," Dean growled, slamming the laptop closed, "We need to get out of this universe."

"Yeah, no arguments there," Sam assured him.

The brothers continued on discussing our current situation before I finally piped up.

"Maybe, we can reverse Balthazar's spell," I said, picking up a pad of paper and a pen, drawing out the symbol I'd been studying before. "We just need the ingredients and that window." I flipped the pad around to the guys, showing them the symbol I'd drawn that was the same as the one Balthazar had drawn onto the window at Bobby's.

We rushed back into the studio and bypassed everyone who looked like they were about to talk to us. Searching Bobby's room, that really wasn't Bobby's room in this reality, Sam found the bone of a lesser saint. Which turned out to be made of rubber.

"This is pointless," I groaned, throwing down a book. "This is all fake."

Dean picked up a knife and started bending it back and forth like rubber. I rolled my eyes.

"What are we supposed to do with this crap?" Dean spat, throwing the knife to the floor.

"Of course it's all fake," Sam said as we quickly stepped out of the set and made our way towards the exit again. "It's a film set."

"We need to get back to the real world," I told them, stating the obvious.

Dean shot me a look and we made our way over to a very dirty Impala. I climbed into the back as the brothers got in the front seats.

We slowly made our way through the back alley, seeing props and other sets as we drove on. Suddenly, a young man came running up to the car yelling at 'Jensen' to stop. The Impala was squealing loudly.

"It's a freaking prop!" Dean spat, finally stopping the car and getting out.

"Thank you, thank you so much," the guy said, probably glad he wasn't going to lose his job now.

"How the hell are we supposed to get out of here?" Dean asked him.

He lead us over to a man who we supposedly worked with and we got into the backseat, all squishing together. No one wanted to sit up front with the stranger.

"Where do you want me to drop you off, Jensen?" he asked, eyeing Dean in the rearview mirror.

Dean pulled a face then patted Sam's shoulder. "I'll just tag along with Jared here."

"Me too," I added in quickly.

The guy driving gave me a weird look before grinning. "You're funny."

I laughed hesitantly before shooting the brothers a look. "Uhm, I don't follow."

"Of course you're going home with your husband," the man driving said with a laugh.

Dean started laughing and Sam and I exchanged looks.

"Husband?" I asked Sam, my voice barely above a whisper.


	19. Chapter 19

"Yeah so, uh Cliff, right, I think we're just going to go back to my-I mean our place and do some uh…" Sam stumbled along, still in shock from the news.

I had my eyes glued straight to the window on my right, my jaw clenched shut.

"We're going to work on our acting," Dean spoke up for his brother, nudging Sam. "For our characters…for the show."

"Yeah," Sam added in with an awkward smile.

"Vancouver!" I shouted from my seat, causing everyone in the vehicle to jump. I blushed as everyone turned to me.

I pointed at the sign above the road.

"We're not even in America," Dean whispered across to us before shutting his eyes and looking incredibly exhausted from the constant barrage of weird crap.

Cliff pulled up to a huge house, it looked like it was three stories and I suddenly couldn't breathe. Cliff stopped in front of the front door and the three of us piled out quietly in awe of the building in front of us. Slowly, Sam and I opened the huge front doors and went in.

My jaw had to have hit the ground.

"You two do not live here," Dean said as he surveyed the room.

"What's this? A tanning bed?" I asked, rushing over to a huge, gray contraption. I spun around to face the guys. "Who the hell has a tanning bed _in their house_?"

"Snooki?" Dean threw out.

I looked around to throw something, but everything looked too expensive. Dean laughed at that. Soon after, Dean spotted a bunch of alcohol in the corner and rushed over to it with an excited look on his face.

"What is that?" I asked, hearing sounds coming from the back of the house.

Dean being the closest to the window moved a curtain away and looked to see what the sound was. He spun around with wide eyes. "You have a camel in your backyard."

"No!" I shouted, running over. I gasped and turned around to face Sam. "Why in the hell do we have…a _freaking_ alpaca?"

Sam shrugged in response as he joined us by the window, looking out at the thing in the backyard.

"Kinky," Dean muttered.

I slapped him upside the head, glaring. Sam cleared his throat and pointed over at the wall across the room from us.

Dean's grin widened as he looked at the picture. "I think I like this alternate reality version of you better, Cali."

My eyes widened in shock at the picture on the wall. It was a photo of me, topless, with my hair the only thing covering my chest. Next to it read 'Maxim's Hottest Hottie 2010'. I swear I couldn't breathe.

"You know you should think about putting more of these up all over the place. It's classy," Dean teased me as my face turned beat red.

I looked over at Sam who was trying to not meet my gaze, obviously uncomfortable. Dean spotted a laptop and sat down, turning it on.

"What are you doing?" I asked him quickly.

"Figuring out more about you," he said with a smug smirk.

"No, no you're not, Dean." I rushed over to him but he just pulled the laptop from me, typing my supposed name into the searchbar.

There were quite a few photos that popped up before there were links. Most of them were 'sexy' pictures which just made me even more uncomfortable. Dean just whistled and slapped Sam on the shoulder, telling him he did good. I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

"Could you make this anymore weird?" I asked him.

He started laughing really hard and I looked up at him. Sam was blushing bright red now and I knew whatever it was he'd read was bad.

"Yes, I can," Dean told me, turning to give me a goofy grin.

I raised an eyebrow, not sure if I really was ready for this.

"It says in some movie called From Beneath you had an entirely nude sex scene."

I started hyperventilating. "I want out of this universe," I began to repeat over and over.

Dean smirked at me and Sam gave me a half smile, though he still looked really uncomfortable.

"What about Sam?" I asked, trying to take the attention off of me.

Dean typed in 'Jared Padelecki' and I bit my lip. One of the photos that had popped up was of him shirtless. And he looked really good.

He searched around the sites for awhile until he stopped on something.

"Sam and Dean fanfiction?" Dean said, clicking on the link.

A bunch of links came up after that.

"Stories?" Sam asked, eyeing the links that must have been titles.

Dean clicked on one, skimming through it. "Oh for the love of God!" Dean shouted, shoving the laptop away.

"What?" I asked.

When he didn't answer I walked over and read what was on the laptop. My face twisted into a look of disgust matching Dean's.

"What?" Sam now asked.

"It's some story about…you and Dean."

He raised an eyebrow. "And?" 

I took a deep breath before I said it. "It's a sex scene…with you and your brother."

Sam quickly slammed the laptop shut and tossed it back onto the coffee table. "No more looking into things about 'us'."

We stood there awkwardly, no one looking at one another for a few minutes. Eventually something caught Sam's eye again and he wandered over to it.

"Huh," I heard Sam mutter from across the room.

He was looking at another picture and I was hoping it wasn't anything bad.

"What?" I asked.

He picked up the framed photo and brought it over to me. It was a picture of us kissing, him in a tux and me in a wedding dress. The photo was beautiful.

"Wedding picture?" I asked in disbelief.

"Well you two are married," Dean pointed out.

"I'm going to sleep, you guys figure something out. This is too weird," I announced, handing the photo back to Sam.

I made my way upstairs and looked through rooms trying to find a bed. I screamed with laughter when I opened the door to one room.

"What?" Dean's excited voice shouted. Pounding footsteps reached me and he glanced into the room I pointed into.

"Oh my God!" he burst out laughing as he pushed Sam to look into the room.

He had an annoyed expression when he spun around. "I want out of this place."

"Cowboy Sammy," Dean said, slapping him on the back. "Nice picture of you. You liked it so much you made it the size of your wall."

I laughed as I eyed the photo of Sam with a cowboy hat on a horse.

"Brokeback Mountain?" Dean teased his brother.

"Shut up Dean."

I smiled as I made my way down the hall and finally found myself a place to sleep. I curled up under the covers, not even bothering to change my clothes. I really wasn't interested in anything but sleep after the day we'd had.

The next morning I was dragged out of bed by Dean. It was early and they didn't give me time to even shower.

"Just get changed," Dean told me as he left the room.

With a huff I got off the bed and opened the closet doors, assuming I'd find something. I screamed probably the loudest I've ever done. In no time both brothers came rushing into the room looking ready to fight.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked me.

"I have the largest closet known to man!" I shouted, actually _running_ into the closet full of shoes, clothes, purses and sunglasses.

Both of the guys gave loud groans, Dean complaining about 'chicks' as they exited. It took me a little while trying to figure out what to wear but I finally left and made my way downstairs.

"Where are we going?" I asked the brother's as I saw Cliff in his car waiting to pick us up.

"Airport. We overnighted something to help us get back," Dean told me vaguely.

I just nodded my head and we all piled into the car on our way to the airport.


	20. Chapter 20

The lights turned on and I jumped back just as Dean cut the package open. We heard voices approaching and I sighed. This is always our luck.

"What is this? Here for the first run through before anyone else? Dedication," the older man I recognized from the day before said as he looked at the three of us in turn.

Sam and I tried to hide the package as Dean approached the guy, asking to talk to him for a second.

"We're going to need the set clear," Dean started, causing me to roll my eyes. No way was this guy going to listen to Dean. "For about an hour or so."

"You need it cleared?" the man asked, his eyes narrowed a little contemplating what Dean just told him.

"Yeah me and uh…Jared and Hannah are gonna do some…actor stuff."

Sam just hit his face with the palm of his hand at his brother.

"Jensen we're thrilled to see you collaborating so creatively and your enthusiasm is refreshing," the man went on, Dean giving the guy a big smile because he thought he had actually bought his bullshit, " I wish our whole team was like that. And we'll clear this set once we've finished the pages we're scheduled to shoot today. So you do your…actor stuff, and we'll do our camera stuff."

"Right," Dean grumbled before walking away towards us.

The guy Misha was sitting behind Sam and I as the box sat between us. Misha leaned forward with a script in his hand, one earbud for his music player in his ear and asked us what we'd shipped in priority mail.

"Part of a dead person," Sam said unphased as he watched Dean come over.

"So bad news, looks like we're going to have to do a little acting," Dean said awkwardly.

"What?" Sam and I asked simultaneously.

For the next hour and some I watched the brothers fail miserably through their lines. I wasn't needed in the scene they were filming, which I was thankful for. I highly doubted I'd do much better. But all the same, I was enjoying watching them struggle and I was laughing behind my hand. They were terrible.

Finally, the older man from before called an end to the scene.

"Alright, we're done on this set. Everybody move to the next set," he called out before turning to Sam. "This is the one you've been dying to film."

I was dragged along with the rest of the people to another set. It was a cut away of one of Bobby's extra bedrooms with the adjoining bathroom. The one Dean usually used.

"Hannah and Jared, you two might want to run through your lines while we set up. It's under scene 9 on page 34," the older guy said again before he started directing some camera men around.

Sam and Dean approached me, both with scripts in their hands. I was handed one by a young woman who had some earpiece in her ear. I awkwardly thanked her before slowly turning to the page he had mentioned. My eyes skimmed the page and I felt entirely uncomfortable. My face was burning at the thought of what we were about to be forced to do and I cursed Balthazar for putting us here.

"Nice!" Dean exclaimed with a grin on his face as he read through the script, shooting Sam a wink.

"This is a…romantic scene?" I asked, choking on the word 'romantic'.

"Well, at least you guys don't have many lines to memorize," Dean said optimistically. "I'm going to enjoy watching this."

I glared at him, appalled at his interest.

"Get them in wardrobe!" a voice called out.

I was suddenly being pulled away by a woman towards the opposite direction Sam was being pulled. I gave him a pleading look to do something but he just returned it with his own desperate look. There was nothing we could do but do this scene.

While I was being forced into little boyshort underwear and a tiny piece of cloth without straps that would serve as my bra for the scene, both nude colored as well, I couldn't help but wonder about something. If this show was based on our life, did this mean that had Balthazar not sent us here Sam and I would be having sex?

I shivered at the thought. We'd been together for weeks now since Sam got his soul back and we hadn't even gotten close to that yet. And now, here we were about to be the most intimate we ever had been and it was going to be in front of Dean, a group of strangers, and a bunch of cameras. Not only did the idea make me uncomfortable, I felt dirty.

Eventually I was pushed back out on set with only a robe draped over my shoulders so I wouldn't be standing there almost naked in front of everyone. Sam was standing there awkwardly as well in a pair of boxer briefs they'd made him put on, a robe draped over him as well but his was open. My eyes lingered in various places as discretely as I could let them as I joined the group.

"Let's get everyone in their places now," the older man called out. I had no idea what his name was still.

Sam was pushed into the shower and I was told to stand on some tape lines in the bedroom. I stood there awkwardly, my robe still tightly wrapped around me. Mine apparently was going to be part of the scene for a couple minutes. That didn't comfort me much though.

"I don't really feel comfortable doing this," I finally called out.

The older gentleman turned to me for a moment before breaking into a grin. "Too funny."

"No, really I don't."

"You've done countless scenes like this before," the older man said in what he probably thought was a comforting manner. I cringed at the thought.

"And you've already done a sex scene with Jared before," Misha called from his chair, his eyes glancing up from his script. "Back when he was soulless Sam, remember?"

My breath caught in my chest and I looked over at Sam in the other 'room' of the set. He was staring at me now entirely confused. I glanced away quickly. That had been the reason I'd up and left Dean and Sam and stuck around with all those hunters instead. Sam had no idea. And I didn't want him remembering lest it brought back memories that would have him rolling on the ground again in pain.

Dean turned around in his chair to glare at Misha, though the guy was utterly confused as to what he did wrong.

"Exactly," the older gentleman said, "You've done one of these scenes before for us anyway. And Jared's your husband. How much more comfortable can you get? Now, places everyone."

I closed my eyes and begged God to get me out of there. But when my eyes opened again, I was still draped in a robe in front of a group of people about to make out with Sam in a shower while we were both half naked. And it would be filmed.

"Action!" the man called out.

For a moment I just stood there, totally dumbstruck. The man called cut and he looked at me shaking his head.

"Come on now, Hannah. I know you can do this. Just get into character and forget we're all here. You're Calista and you're alone with Sam. You've both had this on your mind for the past few days. Just roll with it here."

I blushed when he'd said we both had had this on our mind the past few days. I knew I had, but I hadn't stopped to think about Sam thinking about it.

"Action!"

Slowly I made my way into the bathroom where Sam was 'showering'. A camera was shoved right up next to me making it difficult to pretend it was just us.

"Lis?" Sam asked, peaking his head around the shower curtain.

My breath caught in my throat.

"What are you doing?" he asked me.

"Joining you," I said in a barely audible voice as a camera pulled away from me.

I dropped my robe, fighting the urge to run off set screaming about how badly I didn't want to do this. I noticed Sam eye me up from head to toe. He looked nervous after that as I stepped into the shower with him, the camera man was right at the edge filming us.

Sam was soaked and my eyes lingered on his lips before he gently pulled me to him. Our lips connected and slowly I forgot what was going on. I slid my hands up his wet chest and tangled them in the back of his hair. I pulled him closer to me feeling a warmth rise in my body. I bit his bottom lip teasingly to which he exhaled a deep breath in a soft moan, the sound and the warmth of his breath on my skin raising goosebumps.

Remembering the cameras were there, Sam pushed the shower curtain back like he was supposed to and lifted me up. Our lips never broke as the camera men followed us into the other 'room'.

Gently, Sam set me down on the bed, pulling away momentarily to look into my eyes. I ran a hand up his cheek before pulling his mouth back down to mine. Sam crawled up onto the bed on top of me and I felt his weight on me as I pulled him as close as possible. The kissing started to become feverish and as I sensed a camera in my face I desperately fought back going any further.

Thankfully the scene ended when the old man shouted "Cut!" in a very happy voice.

Sam was still straddling me though we had pulled away when the word had been called out. We were staring into each others eyes as I barely heard the man go on about how great the scene was and how he was surprised he got everything in one take.

"And you didn't want to do it," the man scoffed. "Let's take a break, everyone."

I got out from underneath Sam and threw on my robe before rushing off set to get changed. When I came back out Sam and Dean were just standing there.

"I feel dirty," Dean told me when I approached the two. "I didn't need to see that."

I blushed, averting my gaze to the floor a little embarrassed he had.

We made our way back to the room with the window we'd fallen through to get into this alternate reality. Quickly we got to work with the mixture before I began drawing the symbol onto the window with my finger, feeling incredibly repulsed that I was touching the stuff.

"What did that guy mean about, you know," Sam asked quietly as he stood next to me.

I glanced over my shoulder at him before turning back to the window. "I don't know Sam. Not everything in the show happened in real life."

Silence passed between us until I finally finished what I was doing.

"You looked like something had though," he pushed.

"Sam now is not the time," I responded gruffly. " I want to go back to the _real_ Bobby's house."

"Damn straight," Dean agreed coming up behind us. "Let's jump through this bitch."

The three of us stepped back a good distance before counting down from three and running headlong into the glass, breaking through it and landing on the concrete floor.

"Oh that one hurt," Dean groaned out, clutching his side.

"I preferred landing on the mat," I agreed, my head throbbing from hitting the ground.

When we stood up we noticed everyone's eyes on us like we'd lost our minds.

"Back to my trailer," Dean announced, giving everyone an awkward smile as we passed them as if nothing happened.

"Maybe we did it wrong?" Sam offered once we'd gotten back onto Jensen's trailer.

"No," I said shaking my head, "that spell was perfect. It should have worked."

"What if it can't?" Sam said after a moment of silence passed between the three of us.

Dean and I glanced at him.

"Look, I was up all night looking online. There's no sign that anything like the apocalypse happened here. Ever. As far as I can tell; monsters, ghosts, demons…they're all pretend."

"So nobodies hunting them?" I asked in shock.

"There's no hunters," Sam answered. "Maybe that's why the spell didn't work. Maybe here there's no supernatural, no magic."

"No demons, no Hell, no Heaven, no God?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Even better. No angels," Sam said sarcastically.

I threw my head into my hands, rubbing my temples roughly. I felt a migraine coming on.

"So. We're stuck here?" I concluded.


	21. Chapter 21

"If I hear another word about hockey I'm going to puke," Dean complained as the three of us made our way around the set.

"Dean you're going the wrong way," I called after him as Sam was about to turn a corner.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm not," Dean said over his shoulder as Sam backtracked.

"Dean, no!" Sam called out as a figure emerged from the shadows ahead of him.

Virgil was standing there, a dark look on his face. Fear grabbed hold of me suddenly. We were weaponless.

He raised a hand forward in silence towards Dean who was frozen in place. Nothing happened though.

We were in an alternate universe. Angels weren't real.

Dean caught on instantly and didn't waste a second. He threw a punch knocking Virgil back and Sam and I were at Dean's side.

"No magic in the house," Sam said cockily.

"Which makes you nothing but a dick," Dean added.

Dean went to land another punch, but this time Virgil was expecting it. He blocked the hit and pushed Dean to the side like it was nothing. Sam and I lunged at him, trying to take him down. He dodged my attack and tossed me along beside Dean. Sam got in a good hit, taking Virgil by surprise.

I was on my feet in no time and in seconds Sam and I had the powerless angel restrained. Dean started throwing punches into him one after another. Virgil kept trying to break free, but I only tightened my grip harder on him.

Suddenly I felt someone grabbing me from behind. I tore my gaze away from the fight to see four guys were trying to pull us off the angel.

"You don't understand!" Sam called out gruffly, fighting to get out of the two guys' grips on him. They were struggling against his strength but they were succeeding in breaking up the fight.

Moments later the three of us were being restrained and Virgil's hand reached into my pocket, pulling the key from inside.

"No!" I shouted, struggling against the guy who had a death grip on me. "Damn it, he's getting away!"

"Get off of me!" Dean shouted at the guy holding him back.

Virgil was gone in no time.

"You guys need to calm down," one of the guys shouted, finally releasing us.

"You need to mind your own business," I snarled at him.

The three of us wasted no time chasing after the way Virgil had left, hoping those guys wouldn't follow behind.

"He must have a way out of here," Dean said urgently as he was scanning the building for him.

"Unless he's out of mojo here. He could be stuck here just like us," Sam reasoned.

"I don't care," Dean said, "I want to finish kicking his ass."

I nodded in agreement. In the end, he was partially the reason we were stuck in this weird ass place. I wanted out. Now.

"Maybe he's back at Bobby's…or, fake Bobby's," I suggested, looking around at all the different sets. "That's where we came in at, maybe he's trying to leave through there."

"Good idea," Dean said, swerving off to the left.

The set was dark, and as we traipsed through not-Bobby's place, I felt eerily uncomfortable. Wait until Bobby heard about this.

"There you three are," a voice said as a light lit up in front of the one who'd spoken.

An old man with white balding hair was seated at Bobby's desk, the desk light lit up.

"Is this the kind of act that comes from wanting a raise?" he asked, a knowing smile on his face.

I huffed and rolled my eyes. "I think you pay these losers enough," I said. "Freaking _alpaca_," I added under my breath.

"I'd like to think that over these years we've all grown closer," he continued on as if I'd never said anything. "I hope you don't think of me as producer Bob or director Bob Singer, but as…Uncle Bob."

The three of us exchanged looks.

"Wait so, Bobby Singer in the show…is named after you?" Sam asked.

Dean looked appalled. "What kind of douche-bag names a character after himself?"

I chuckled at his comment. Leave it to Dean to be straightforward.

"Guys," 'Bobby Singer' said, rising from his chair and placing a hand on Dean's shoulder. "You guys can't come to work on poppers, and then smuggle kidneys in from Mexico, and then make up your own lines as you go!"

I rolled my eyes. This guy was so alternate universe retarded. If only he really knew. I glanced at the boys, the same look written on their faces too.

"What about your careers?" 'Bobby Singer' asked.

"Screw our careers," Sam said becoming increasingly annoyed.

"What?" 'Bobby Singer' asked, standing there dumbfounded as Sam disappeared from the 'room'.

"You heard my brother," Dean said, rounding on the fake Singer, "that's right I said brother. We're not actors, we're hunters. We're the Winchesters, always have been, always will be."

I made my way after Sam, not catching the last bit of Dean's righteous speech about what we really do and how fans aren't necessary.

"Virgil has the key," I told him.

"What?"

"Before he ran off, he took the key out of my jacket."

Sam's face went stoney. "Great."

He raced back over to not-Bobby's fake study where Dean and the fake Bobby Singer were at it still.

"Virgil has the key," Sam told his brother in a rush.

"Oh my God!" a woman screamed not too far off the set, causing me to jump.

'Bobby Singer' snapped to attention as the woman began calling for him.

"Over here!" he called out.

"Misha has been stabbed!" the woman said in a panic.

Dean shot a look at Sam. "Where?"

"What?" She gave Dean a confused look.

I suppose we probably should have been freaking out, not asking where we should head to start investigating. Nevertheless, she told us where it had taken place and in no time we were on the scene.

"Well clearly we can't just fake some FBI junk here, what now?" I whispered to the guys as we stood behind the police caution tape.

"He looks like he might've seen something, I'll go check it out," Dean said, stalking off towards a homeless man who seemed spooked.

Sam and I surveyed the scene, noting the body that was covered with a sheet.

"Well, he's gone now. I don't know if I should feel something or not. I mean, this world isn't real, right?" I asked Sam.

He had that usual look on his face that he gets when he's upset about something. Apparently alternate universe or not, Sam still is Mr. Empathetic.

"We have an out," Dean said, returning moments later. "Raphael is taking Virgil back to…wherever we came from. He's supposed to return tomorrow at the place where he crossed over and Raphael is going to reach through the window and bring him back."

"We have to be there," I said sternly.

"Looks like we need to stop him. How bad can an angel with no wings be?" Dean asked rhetorically.

We made it back to Jared and Hannah's house and attempted sleep. I didn't get much that night, just tossed and turned wondering what would happen if things went wrong tomorrow. Would we ever get back? I didn't want to be stuck here.

When morning came, we rushed back to the set and paced back and forth in the look-alike room of Bobby's house. It still gave me the creeps how it looked exactly the same.

"What if this doesn't work? What if we don't get back?" I asked, pacing the room and finally voicing the thoughts I hadn't been able to shake from my mind.

Sam gave me a reassuring smile. "We'll find a way back."

Somehow, I didn't think he felt as confident as he sounded.

"You wouldn't be that broken up if we didn't though," Dean spoke up, turning to look between the two of us.

"Don't be stupid," Sam told his brother.

"I'm just saying. No more hunting. You're rich. Married and happy. Apple pie life."

"Dean, all of our friends are back there. Our life is back there," Sam told him, leaning up against the doorframe.

"Yeah but, here you got a pretty good life. Both of you."

My heart sank listening to him talk.

"Back home, shit's been hitting the fan since you were six months old. You gotta admit, being rich and being married to Cal is the whole package. It's no contest."

Sam didn't even give it a second thought, and when he opened his mouth it felt like I was invading on something personal and private.

"It's just not right here. We don't mean the same thing here. We aren't even brothers." Sam told him.

A look passed between them, one of brotherly love. The moment didn't last long, but I still caught it.

"Well, let's get our asses home," Dean said, clearing his throat and breaking the moment.

Gunshots erupted close by seconds later.

"That's him," I said, absolutely positive.

Sam ran out towards the sound without hesitation. "I'll get his attention."

"Sam!" I shouted after him.

"Hey!" he called out, ignoring my protests and directing Virgil's attention to him.

Virgil turned right to him, pointing the gun and shooting. Sam leapt out of the way, just missing the bullet, as Dean rushed forward and tackled the angel. True to his word about wanting to finish kicking his ass, he began repeatedly beating the crap out of him. Virgil got in a good hit, throwing Dean backwards. Sam was on him in a heartbeat, picking up right where Dean left off. I raced forward and began searching Virgil for the key while the guys kept him preoccupied. I found it in his jacket pocket and fished it out.

"I got it!" I told them. In the corner of my eye I noticed the glowing red symbol on the window. "Uh, guys, Raphael is coming."

"Shit," Dean spat, pulling away from the now unconscious Virgil.

Suddenly, there was a pull on my torso that felt like hands grabbing me, but nothing was there. The three of us were dragged backwards by an invisible force and we went crashing through the window. This time it was actually glass. And it hurt.

Balthazar and Raphael were there in the parking lot in front of us. I could tell a heated discussion was on the way and I noticed Raphael holding the key I must have dropped during the fall. As Balthazar continued on, I was becoming quite pissed myself having found we had been used like play toys.

He used us as decoys. I was going to pummel him to a pulp. Sam placed a warning hand on my shoulder, holding me back. He knew me too well.

Raphael, completely unaware of what was going on with the three of us, took a few menacing steps forward at Balthazar before Castiel appeared.

"Step away from him Raphael," Cas called out in his deep voice. "I have the weapons now, their power is with me. If you don't want to die tonight, back off."

Balthazar gave Raphael a smug smirk as he crossed his arms across his chest. In a flutter of wings, Raphael disappeared. Balthazar followed momentarily after shooting a wink my way.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked, confused and angry.

Cas said nothing, just walked forward and grabbed the three of us. Before I blinked we were standing back at Bobby's.

"You were in on this? Using us as a diversion?" Sam said, putting the pieces together.

"It was Balthazar's plan," Cas deadpanned. He kept his back to us while he spoke. "I would have done the same thing."

"That's not comforting Cas," Dean growled.

"When will I be able to make you understand?" Castiel questioned, turning around to face us. "If I lose against Raphael, we all lose. Everything."

"We know the stakes," I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "That's about all you've told us."

"I'm sorry about all of this. I'll explain when I can."

With that, Cas was gone in a flutter of wings and a rush of air.

Dean let out a grunt and mumbled something along the lines of 'freaking angels'.

Sam stepped forward and smacked his hand a couple times against the doorframe in the study.

"It's real," he said, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oh yes," Dean said sarcastically, gesturing around the room. "Home sweet home. Where everything wants to kill us. Oh, and we're broke again."

Sam let out a light chuckle. "At least we're brothers here."

"Oh, goody," Dean mumbled under his breath, pretending like he didn't care.

"Hey," I spoke up, catching their attention. "Why don't we get some actual sleep? I'm kind of dead after all of…that."

Sam shot me a soft smile. "Sounds like a good plan."

He reached out and grabbed my hand, his large hand engulfing mine, and we made our way upstairs to get ready for bed.

"You're glad we're back here, right?" Sam asked with a little uncertainty in his voice as I was washing off my face in the bathroom down the hall from our usual bedroom.

I rolled my eyes. "Of course, Sammy. That other world was just…too weird. I mean…Maxim?"

He crossed the hall and leaned up against the bathroom doorframe, a smirk on his face.

"I could still see you being on Maxim's list here," he said, a goofy look on his face.

I blushed despite myself. "Alright Sasquatch, bedtime."


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks for the reviews on my last chapter SomebodyWhoCares, Appoli, and whoever sent that wonderful anonymous message! I'm so glad you like my character Calista!**

* * *

><p>The morning light danced behind my eyelids. Slowly, I let them flutter open, blinking a few times. I could feel Sam lying next to me, his right arm draped over my stomach. He was breathing evenly, still asleep. I smiled lazily before rolling over onto my side, gently keeping his hand in place over me and trying not to wake him. He looked so peaceful in his sleep.<p>

I pushed some of his hair off of his face before letting my hand fall back onto my pillow. Sam had always been so handsome to me. I was glad that, unlike old times, moments like these weren't the only chances I got to admire him. I wasn't sure what we were exactly, but I knew things between us weren't like old times. Not after the last couple days we've had at Bobby's. And especially not after last night.

His eyes suddenly opened, catching mine. A grin spread over his lips.

"Morning," he said in a tired voice.

"Morning." The smile on my face spread wider.

"I'm getting used to waking up to you," Sam admitted, pulling me closer to him with the arm that he had draped over me.

"Ditto," I said, sighing contentedly as I laid my head in the crook of his neck. I could still faintly smell his cologne from yesterday.

"You idjiot!"

Sam and I both let out a laugh as we heard Bobby and Dean arguing about something downstairs.

"I suppose it's about time we get up," Sam said after a few moments of the two of us lying still.

I groaned aloud. "Do we really have to?"

He chuckled, the movement making my head slightly rise and fall with his chest.

"If we don't get up, I'm sure Dean will break down the door in a bit. You know he's been getting restless just being cooped up here at Bobby's."

I sighed. Sam had a point.

"Alright, you win." I pushed the sheets back and instantly regretted it. Cold air hit my body and being half naked didn't help. Grudgingly, I crawled out of bed.

Sam let out a low whistle causing me to turn on the spot. I shot him a coy smile as I tossed on his shirt from the other day.

"Like what you see, Winchester?"

He smirked, leaning back on the bed with his arms behind his head now. The sheets I threw off now left his bare chest exposed and I couldn't help but like what _I_ saw.

"You could say that," he said in a teasing tone.

I playfully stuck my tongue out at him before opening the bedroom door and making my way towards the bathroom across the hall. I heard him chuckling from the room.

"Tease!" he jokingly called out after me.

"Look who's talking!" I called back before shutting the bathroom door behind me.

It wasn't long before I was clean and dressed, making my way downstairs to where I could hear all the commotion.

"And Sleeping Beauty finally makes an appearance," Dean said sarcastically, glancing up from a newspaper. He sipped on his coffee before shooting a smartass look my way.

I rolled my eyes and ignored him. "Morning Bobby," I greeted, taking a plate of pancakes from Sam. "Looks like someone made breakfast."

"Figured you could use a break from doing all the cooking," Sam said.

"Who knew Martha Stewart here could make pancakes," Dean commented.

I lightly smacked him on the back of the head.

"What's up your ass, buttercup?" Dean asked, eyeing me as I took a seat at the table too. A mischevious smirk played along his lips. "No wait, don't answer that. I think I know after last night."

I kicked him hard in the shin beneath the table. Dean grunted and let out a little whimper of pain. Sam was having a hard time not choking on his coffee while he fought back laughter.

"I think I'll have my breakfast away from you three idjiots," Bobby said abruptly, rising and making his way to the living room.

"Bobby always was a smart man," I commented as he left the room. I thought I heard him chuckle.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Sam asked his brother.

"Bobby's been getting calls from hunters left and right this morning. Looks like we've got something big on our hands," Dean told us before tearing into his pancakes.

"You always did have table manners," I mumbled under my breath.

Dean mocked me, sticking his tongue with chewed food on it out at me.

"Don't make me kick you again," I jokingly warned.

He stopped abruptly and turned his attention back to his food for awhile. Now and then while we ate Sam and I would shoot looks at each other from across the table.

"You two are making me sick," Dean said finally, rising from the table. "Stop having mind sex on the breakfast table."

Sam shot his brother an annoyed look while I just rolled my eyes. One of Bobby's phones began ringing again and Dean let out a grunt.

"Bet you ten bucks it's another one," Dean told us.

The rest of our breakfasts remained untouched as we made our way over to Bobby's study. He was leaning over a map with a red Sharpie, marking circles all down I-80.

"What is that?" I asked him once he'd hung up the phone.

"The freaking monster mash," Dean answered sarcastically.

"So where do we start?" I asked him.

Dean pointed at the last circle Bobby had drawn.

"Man bashed in his family's heads," Bobby told us.

I groaned. "Do we ever get any nice calls? Man's house overrun with kittens in Hawaii? Someone has too many tickets for a cruise?"

"I'm with you there," Dean said, his usual smile on his face.

"So…I guess that means we should hurry up and pack?" I questioned him.

"Yup," Dean responded, popping the 'p'. "Baby's been waiting to stretch her legs."

I shot him a look. "Please tell me you're talking about the Impala."

Dean frowned. "Hurry up and just pack, will you? And…no talking."

An hour later our things were packed and in the back of the Impala. The guys took their usual seats upfront and Bobby and I were in the back. I kept readjusting my skirt for my fake FBI uniform, thanking God that our destination was only a few hours away. I didn't think I could sit in a skirt for too much longer.

We showed up at the police station and flashed our badges, telling them the situation. They brought us over to an interrogation room where a man was sitting in an orange jumpsuit. He looked quite remorseful for someone who'd just committed such a heinous crime. Something about that seemed odd to me.

Dean introduced us to the man as we all took seats and he started off interrogating the guy.

"I blacked out," he told us, "just like I'd told the cops."

Sam had that compassionate, empathetic look on his face like he usually did. "Just tell us what you do remember," he said gently.

"I was driving my regular route," the guy started, "and then I woke up in my truck at work."

"Where do you work?" I asked him.

"Starlight Cannery. I-I didn't remember how I got there, so I called home. When no one picked up I went there and I found…" his voice trailed off.

"Anything unusual before you blacked out?" Bobby asked. "Any strange smells, sights?"

He shook his head. "Normal night. I was giving some kid at the truck stop a ride."

I sat up straighter in my chair. That doesn't sound like your normal night.

"What happened to the kid?" I asked him.

"She took off," he said, sounding like he was on the brink of hysterics, "at least I think she took off."

"Anything else?" I pried. There had to be more.

"No, I swear," he said, his voice breaking with emotion. "I didn't mean to do it. I loved them."

The four of us exchanged looks before deciding we'd gotten all we could from him.

"Do you have the tape from the truck stop?" Dean asked the officer that was in charge of the case.

The officer nodded and lead us over to a computer. He pulled up the footage and left us to it.

"Well that's him," Dean said as we saw the man we'd interrogated on the film filling up his semi with gas.

From the corner of the screen we saw a brunette appear. She was in a white dress and barefoot.

"Oh, hello," Dean said, a smirk on his face.

I smacked his arm and shot him a look before turning back to the tape. We watched the girl walk around the semi and when she looked up into the camera, Dean paused it. Her face had changed. And it definitely wasn't human. It looked more like a zombified skeleton.

"Freakish nightmare, what the hell was that?" Dean asked.

"Never seen that in my life," Bobby said, leaning closer to the monitor. "Maybe all these vamps and ghouls out on I-80 are coming in for Mother's Day."

Dean stood up and paced a little. "Well if that is big momma, or whatever she is, we got nothing on ganking her. So what do we do? Throw salt and hope?"

"No, we're going to turn tail and run. We're in over our heads," Bobby shot back.

"Well we better get more info on this bitch before we do run into her," Dean said, looking at each of us in turn.

Suddenly all the officers in the building were up on their feet.

"What's going on?" I asked a younger male officer as he passed us.

"Some guy just went postal down at the canner."

"You guys stay, I'll go," Bobby said, following out after the herd of officers.

"Why is there never an easy case?" I muttered under my breath.


	23. Chapter 23

My face was buried in the motel pillow while Sam was pacing the length of the room. We had the entire motel room to ourselves. Dean had insisted we take the opportunity since Bobby was with us and we never had an excuse to get much privacy on the road. I think he was doing it for Sam's sake.

For the last few days he'd been pacing a lot. It was like he was trying really hard to figure something out, and every time I asked him, he said it was about this 'mother of all' case we were working on. But the look on his face always suggested otherwise. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he was trying to remember things that he shouldn't be.

Sam's phone went off, causing me to jump a little. The ringtone broke the silence that had been filling the room. I watched Sam answer it and noted by the way he was talking that it was probably Dean. We had all been waiting on Bobby to get back to us and let us know what was going on. He had filled us in on the situation earlier and let us know that his old hunting buddy Rufus had been working the same case.

"Bobby and Rufus might need backup. Dean's getting stuff together now waiting for him to call back," Sam told me as he hung up his cell phone.

I nodded in response. "What does he want us to do?"

Sam let out a bored sigh. "Sit tight until Bobby calls back."

I sat up on the bed and watched as Sam started pacing again. My eyes followed him back and forth. It looked like he was about to say something, just working on how to say it. I knew that scrunched up look on his face all too well.

Abruptly, he stopped in front of the lone bed in the room, right in front of me. His gaze held mine.

"Last week," he started, his tone soft, "when Balthazar had sent us to that alternate universe…"

I sat in silence as he trailed off, working out his thoughts. This wasn't going to be good. I had a feeling where this was all heading.

"We were doing that…shower scene," Sam continued on, faintly smiling at me which I couldn't help but return, "and that guy, the director, made some comment about how that wasn't the first time we had a moment like that."

I knew this was eventually coming.

"Back when I didn't have my soul, did something happen between us?"

"Not everything on that show actually happened," I insisted, hoping he'd drop it.

He could tell I was lying. "You said that one already, when I first asked you."

"Because nothing happened between us," I urged, not in the mood to discuss this. Besides, Sam couldn't know about this. Remembering might make the wall crumble, and how could I let that happen?

"Then why did you leave? Why did you go start a new life with a bunch of hunters?" Sam asked accusingly.

I opened my mouth to respond but he didn't even give me the chance.

"It was because of me. I did something. I hurt you. And it must have been pretty bad if it made you leave us."

I was glaring at him now, angry for being so persistent about this. "It doesn't matter what happened, Sam!" I growled. "That wasn't you. I know that wasn't you. And I'm back now, and things between us are great. Let it go."

Now he was becoming angry. "Let it go? Let it go?" he was raising his voice now and I wondered how much longer this would go on before Dean decided to intervene. "I can't! And the more you hide this from me, the harder I spend trying to remember it. So just tell me what happened, or I'm going to sit here trying to remember everything I can!"

My fists were clenched tight at my sides and I was fighting to keep myself as together as I could. Out of the corner of my eye I faintly noticed my phone vibrating from a text.

"You really want to know?" I shot at him, ignoring the phone. "I told you I loved you. You know what you did? You told me you did too, and I believed you. We slept together that night. When I woke up in the morning, I found that you had left me stranded at some motel. You told Dean what happened, and he said you had a good laugh about it afterwards."

Sam's face was distraught, the anger that had been there was gone now. I could see in his eyes how much it killed him to hear that. If he hadn't been soulless, he never would have done that to me.

"Dean came and picked me up from where I was. Said you didn't want to talk to me. I told him to take me to Bobby's, so he did. A few days later I left and ended up trying to make a life in Illinois. I told Dean I wanted nothing more to do with either of you."

"Lis, I…" Sam looked like he was on the verge of tears. He sat down on the bed beside me, pulling me to him.

I realized then that I was crying and quickly tried to wipe the few tears away.

"I'm so sorry," Sam whispered into my hair. His grip on me tightened like he was never going to let go. "God, I'm so sorry, Lis."

"It wasn't you," I mumbled into his neck, wrapping my arms around him now.

"That's the thing," Sam said in such a soft tone I had to strain to hear him. He pulled away from me a little and I had to crane my neck to look up at him. "It was me. That wasn't a skinwalker version of me, that was _me_."

I understood then why Sam was so upset about the things he'd done the last year and couldn't remember. While all of us viewed that time like he had just been some skinwalker wearing our Sammy's face, he saw it as just him.

A throat cleared in the doorway and both of us turned our heads. Dean was standing there, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. He didn't look too happy. I was positive he had heard the whole conversation. If anyone could kill somebody with just the look on their face, I was positive Dean could with the way he was looking at me now.

"Bobby called back," Dean said gruffly, his angered gaze still on me.

Reluctantly Sam and I broke apart. He crossed the room and threw his jacket on and I picked up my phone, beginning to feel really uncomfortable under Dean's gaze.

"Hang on," I said, reading the text I'd just gotten. Both guys stopped and turned to me. "Beth sent me a text. Said she's working a vamp case not too far from where we are and she said she could use a little help."

I looked up and exchanged glances with the two of them. I didn't want to leave the guys when they needed me, but Beth was on her own. She needed me too.

"Go," Dean said after a moment. "There's five of us on this case, it's okay if we lose one."

He was right, they had each other along with Bobby and Rufus. And I was sure he didn't mind getting me out of his sight for awhile.

I texted Beth back quickly and not even seconds after the text sent she had responded.

"She's on her way, she'll be here in an hour or so." I told the guys.

"Do you want us to wait?" Sam offered.

I shook my head, eyeing Dean from across the room. "No, I'll be fine. You guys should get to the cannery."

Sam walked over and pulled me into a tight hug. "Be careful," he said softly.

I squeezed him back. "You too."

We pulled away and just stood there for a moment, both of us offering each other reassuring smiles, before Dean stepped over. To my surprise he pulled me into a hug himself.

"Come back in one piece, squirt," he said, though I still could hear the anger in his voice. I had a feeling I was going to get scolded like a child when I got back.

"You two better come back in one piece too, then," I said as Dean pulled away and tossed his jacket on.

Flashing me one of his usual sarcastic grins he said, "We always do."

With that, the guys left and I was alone. For the next hour and a half I spent my time packing up a small duffel of weapons and making sure I had a first aid kit. Sure, it was only vampires, but better safe than sorry.

It wasn't long before my phone was ringing and it was Beth, telling me she was outside in the parking lot. I did one last double check that I had everything before heading outside to her car.

"Long time no see," she said, a half smile on her face. She whipped out of the parking lot seconds later.

"So why are you out here working a case all by yourself?" I asked her.

"I got a call from an officer in the area I'd helped with a case awhile back. Oddly enough it was a vampire case then too. I figured I could handle some vamps on my own, but then I figured I'd ask for help since you weren't too far away. You always nag me about bringing back up."

I rolled my eyes. "Because you always rush in headfirst before thinking. You should be more responsible."

"Thanks, _mom_," Beth teased.

I exhaled loudly and decided to drop the subject.

"Should be an easy case though, looked like just a small nest of a couple vamps. We'll go in, wipe them out, and get you back to your dingy motel in no time."

The rest of the drive we spent catching up. Beth was particularly interested in the time I had spent in the alternate universe. And the fact that I'd finally slept with Sam.

"This should be it up ahead. I already was scouting it out before I texted you. There's two female vampires and a male. They don't seem to leave too often," Beth told me as she parked the car off in the distance.

Farther ahead of us was a disheveled barn. Against the backdrop of a darkening sky, it looked quite spooky actually. Involuntarily I shivered. I may have grown up being a hunter, but the supernatural always made me uneasy.

We slowly got out of the car, both of us grabbing machetes and some dead man's blood. In total silence we stealthily made our way towards the decaying barn, our eyes flickering here and there for any out of the ordinary movements.

Beth stopped abruptly, causing me to almost run into her. She was staring up into a tree and my gaze followed. She sighed when a large blackbird flew out of the tree.

"Stupid bird," Beth said in relief before trudging forward again.

I followed after her but the sound of a twig snapping stopped me in my tracks. Slowly I turned to look over my shoulder and back up into the tree. I reached out a hand to grab Beth and stop her. Both of us raised our machetes in our hands, ready to behead a vampire.

Laughter filled the silence from up in the tree's branches just before a figure jumped down.

"You know, you two showed up at an excellent time," the burly vampire said, a smug look on his face.

"We aren't here for idle chatter," I said.

"Well, you won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Eve fancies hunters," the vampire said, still grinning. His fanged teeth were making my skin crawl and I was slowly losing my nerve.

"Eve?" Beth asked from behind me.

The vampire's head cocked to the side like a dog's. His eyes landed from Beth back onto me, a crooked grin on his face.

"You should know who she is. After all, she knows who you are."

Before I could stop her, Beth swung forward and took the vampire's head clear off. It fell to the ground with a sickening thump and rolled a few feet from its body. I stood there, dumbfounded.

"You really shouldn't have done that," A voice behind us growled.

I didn't have time to fight back before my head was slammed into the nearby tree.


	24. Chapter 24

My head was pounding and I went to reach a hand up and rub my forehead when I realized I couldn't move. I opened my eyes slowly, squinting and trying to adjust to the poor lighting. I could hear voices in the distance but I couldn't make out what they were saying. Glancing down I noticed I was tied to a chair. I pulled at my bindings, hoping to break free. It was no use though.

I scanned the room, looking for Beth. I couldn't see her anywhere.

"Beth?" I whispered out, hoping not to catch our captors' attention.

"Here," a quiet voice spoke from behind me.

I struggled to look over my shoulder and could faintly see her back.

"You alright?" she asked me quietly.

"Yeah, you?"

"Yes. You were out for awhile, I didn't know when you'd wake up."

"What happened?" I asked her.

She sighed. "They knocked you out and they overpowered me. There's more than three, I was so wrong."

I closed my eyes, trying to remain calm.

"How many are there?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know.

"Well, including the one I killed…six."

"Shit."

I could hear Beth struggling against her bindings. She gave a grunt before giving up, grumbling about how good vampires were with knots.

The voices were getting louder now, and I could hear their footsteps approaching the room inside the barn we must have been in. The only light was coming from the moon and stars outside, so I struggled to see the faces next to me when they appeared.

"She's a pretty one," the tall one said.

The short, blonde vampire next to him shot him a look of disgust before she looked over at me.

"I suppose you think she's pretty too?"

"I always thought hunters were supposed to be unattractive men," the male vampire joked.

I ignored him, finding no humor in what he was saying. I kept trying to think of ways to get out of the situation.

"You're very quiet," the female said, running a hand through my hair.

I jerked my head away quickly from her hand. She let out an inhuman growl of annoyance before yanking my face towards hers, pulling my hair painfully hard.

"I don't like my food to be feisty," she shot viciously, her fangs glinting in the moonlight.

I felt my stomach churn but I held her gaze.

"If you were going to clean us dry, why are we tied up?" I asked, finding my voice.

She let go of my hair and stood up to her full height, which was nothing compared to the man next to her.

The male vampire chuckled. "Ignore Allison, she's only trying to scare you. We aren't going to drink your blood."

"Then what are you doing with us?" Beth asked.

"Good question," he said, smiling over at Beth. "We're going to turn you."

"What are you waiting for then?" Beth grunted.

A frown crossed his lips now. "For the other's to return."

"So…it's just you two, then?" Beth asked, thinking what had quickly popped into my head.

"If you've forgotten, you're a little…tied up at the moment," the man said, chuckling at his own joke.

In the darkness I could still see Allison roll her eyes. He must have been as annoying to her as he was to me.

"Can't we just have a little taste?" Allison pleaded, reaching out towards me again.

"We aren't supposed to kill them," the man answered.

"Come off it, Victor. Tasting doesn't mean killing," Allison growled.

"For you it usually does," Victor commented.

"Just this once, why not? We're going to turn them anyway. And I'm hungry," Allison whined, staring at me now with a look of pure bloodlust.

I shrank under her dark eyes, feeling like a coward. We were dead. Or rather, we were going to be undead.

Victor eyed me, then Beth, before turning back to Allison and giving her a contemplative look.

"I suppose one bite won't hurt," Victor said, turning to Beth with a wink and adding, "well, not us anyway."

Allison's fangs were on my neck without a moment's hesitation. She bit right through the skin and I screamed in pain. It felt like someone had just sliced off a piece of me. I could hear Beth crying out in pain from behind me.

"Enough!" A deep voice called out, causing both Allison and Victor to turn as still as stone.

I could feel the blood trickling down my neck. The spot still stung and I bit my lip to keep from screaming.

A group of figures entered the dimly lit room. The two who hadn't spoken looked like they had a crazed look in their eyes at the scent of mine and Beth's blood.

"I thought I told you not to touch them."

His voice sounded so cold and I felt the hair on the back of my neck standing on end.

Allison opened her mouth to respond but the thin, tall vampire who seemed to be the one in charge held up his hand to silence her. Her mouth closed immediately, my blood still glistening on her lips.

"You know what happens when one of you disobeys me," the thin vampire spoke.

The two vampires behind the one who'd spoken shrank back a little. Apparently, they all knew.

"No, please, no!" Allison shouted as the vampire approached.

It happened so fast. He seemed to float over towards her, not even moving his feet, before her head was ripped off and rolling on the floor. It landed up against my foot and I kicked it away, feeling my stomach churn again.

Victor let out a scream before the same happened to him. I heard the thud behind me as his body dropped to the ground.

"Now, then. I believe we could use two replacements for those two," he said, eyeing Beth and I up.

Before I could stop myself I found myself shouting, "Castiel! I know you can hear me!"

The vampire looked taken aback for a moment before he chuckled. "Silly, delusional human."

"Come on, Cas!" I called again. "I could use some help!"

I didn't know if there was another way to get us out of this mess. But the only thing worse than dying, would be turning into a supernatural freak.

"Do stop that, it's getting on my nerves," the vampire said, all amusement now gone from his face.

I was about to give up hope when a sound of fluttering wings came from my left. There stood Cas, trench coat askew and a stoney expression on his face.

In a matter of seconds the group of vampires were snarling at him. Completely unphased as the one closest to him rushed forward, teeth barred, he stuck out his hand and placed it on the vampire's head. A bright white light flared up from within the vampire before it dropped, limp, to the ground.

Angry, the other vampire sprinted forward at Castiel. Just like the previous vampire, he was lit up from the inside out and then fell to the dirty floor, entirely lifeless.

The one next to me grabbed the machete I had come with and suddenly held it to my neck. I couldn't help but see the irony in the situation as I sat there with it pressed against my throat.

"Clearly she's of some importance to you. Let me live, or she dies," the vampire growled.

I wanted to laugh at his stupidity. Negotiations with an angel? Cas would smite his ass in no time.

"I am not interested in any of your deals," Castiel said in his toneless voice.

"What a shame then, Eve wanted her."

I noticed Castiel briefly perk up at the mention of that name, which instantly sparked my curiosity. Who was Eve?

I never had a chance to find out. Castiel raised a hand and it felt like a tornado had flown by, throwing my chair across the room and knocking the vampire back into the barn wall. Cas crossed the gap between himself and the vampire in a few quick strides before pulling the vampire up by his neck and bringing his face to his own.

"Eve can't have her," Castiel spoke.

Not even a second later the vampire had undergone the same fate as the others that littered the barn floor.

Castiel silently approached the corner my chair had been knocked over in and ripped the rope from me with no effort. I got up shakily and watched as Beth, entirely awestruck at seeing her first angel, was freed from her bindings.

"Thank you," I uttered out, still trying to calm my pounding heart from what just happened.

Castiel just nodded his head once.

"What was that about? Who's Eve?" I asked him curiously.

His facial expression remained the same as he replied, "You will find out."

He was gone in the blink of an eye after that.

"Man did we get lucky," Beth said, rubbing her head. "Who knew a vampire hunt would turn out so bad."

I nodded in agreement as I walked over to my machete, clutching a hand over the bite on my neck to try to stop the bleeding. Thankfully she hadn't bit me anywhere where I would bleed out and die, but I still needed to bandage it soon and I was sure Beth needed her wound bandaged.

As we slowly made our way out of the barn, setting fire to the burned corpses, Beth let out a chuckle that made me stop in my tracks. I had been thinking so hard about who this Eve could be that the sound of her laugh caught me off guard.

"What's so funny?" I asked her.

"I see what you mean about angels talking in circles and being a pain in the ass now."


	25. Chapter 25

**Thank you for that anonymous review! Here's the next update!**

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><p>With the news of Rufus' death when I'd returned to the motel, Dean had forgotten all about scolding me. No one really spoke that morning either. Dean ran out to grab breakfast for everyone, Bobby wouldn't take his eyes from the TV or the beer from his lips, despite it being only ten in the morning. Eventually Sam pulled me away and into our motel room so he could clean the bite on my neck and re-bandage it for me. I had done a very sloppy job a few hours ago in Beth's car.<p>

The peroxide stung as Sam dabbed it on with a cotton ball, a look of pure concentration on his face. My eyes kept tracing the lines between his furrowed brows to distract me from the sting.

"What happened?" Sam finally asked, his eyes still focused on the bite.

With everything that had happened while I was gone, I hadn't had a chance to tell the three of them about our vampire hunt gone bad and how I'd got bitten. Not that it was too big of a deal, a vampire bite didn't turn you into a vampire after all.

I shrugged, causing Sam to look up from my neck and give me a stern look that clearly said 'stop moving'.

"They took us by surprise. Beth only thought there were three, but there had been six."

Sam frowned deeply as he finished bandaging my neck. He stepped back and pulled me off the counter of the motel bathroom.

"They kept mentioning someone named Eve," I added.

"Eve?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I don't know if she was a vampire or what, but they said she knew who I was."

It was evident in his face that he didn't like that. "So what happened then?"

"Knocked me out and they easily overpowered Beth. Tied us both up. Then this stupid vampire bit me," I said, indicating the bandage, "and I called for Cas."

"He came?" Sam asked, sounding a little surprised.

Thinking back on it now, I was somewhat surprised he had come to our rescue too. Sam and Dean were more important than me, I had always been made aware of that.

"Weird thing was, one of the vampires mentioned Eve's name to Castiel and he seemed to recognize it. Before he killed the last vampire Castiel told him that Eve couldn't have me."

Sam had a look on his face that was a mixture of worry and confusion. "Did you ask Cas about who she is?"

"Of course. And, as you can probably imagine, he didn't say anything. Just that we're going to find out."

The door burst open abruptly, causing the two of us to whip our head in the direction. Dean stood there with a somber look on his face.

"I thought you might like some doughnuts, Cali," Dean said, setting the white box down on the little table along with a few coffees.

"Bobby not hungry?" I asked.

Dean grunted an affirmative response before grabbing a doughnut and tossing himself into one of the chairs. His eyes caught my bandage and he quirked a brow at me.

"What happened?" he asked, mouth full of doughnut.

I explained to him what I'd just told Sam, and he too had a look of confusion and worry on his face.

"Why do we never get a break?" Dean complained, biting into another doughnut.

* * *

><p>The three of us stood awkwardly in the doorframe of Bobby's kitchen, staring at him from across the living room as he sat at his desk in his study.<p>

I exchanged a look with Sam before Dean nudged me.

"Say something," Dean whispered to me.

I glanced back over at Bobby who was opening another bottle of alcohol only to find it empty. Roughly he set it back down on his desk and unscrewed another bottle, only to realize that that one too was empty.

"You say something," I whispered back to Dean.

"No!" Dean glanced over to his brother who was standing on my other side. "Say something, Sammy."

Sam pulled a face before shaking his head, eyeing Bobby.

Simultaneously we all silently outstretched our hands and met them in the middle in front of me. A matter like this was best settled with rock, paper, scissors.

Sam ended up losing, causing Dean and I to exchange smug looks.

Reluctantly Sam cleared his throat. "Hey, uh-"

Bobby cut him off instantly, not even looking up from the research he was doing. Recently we had found out that this Eve wasn't a vampire but 'Big momma' as Dean kept referring to her.

"You three going to stand there like the ugly girl at the prom or are you gonna pitch in?"

The three of us fidgeted awkwardly in the doorframe.

"This so called Eve or mother or whatever ain't gonna gank herself," Bobby finished. He glanced up from his book and drained the alcohol in his glass as he watched us for a moment. "What's wrong with you three?"

"Bobby, you haven't slept in days," Dean pointed out.

"I sleep," Bobby said, brushing off the comment.

"I'm just saying, maybe taking a break could be a good thing," Dean explained.

"For whom?" Bobby asked sarcastically, his attention returning to his books.

Sam cleared his throat again. "Bobby, it was…it was tough for all of us."

I nodded my head as Bobby looked up at us once more.

"Seeing Rufus go like that," Sam added on as he misread the look on his face.

"You think this is…" his voice trailed off for a moment, "this ain't about Rufus."

"Bobby, he wasn't just a poker buddy," Dean said, speaking up again.

I was beginning to feel like maybe bringing up Rufus had been a bad idea.

"You know when I knew Rufus was done for? The day I met him. The only question was who first, him or me? Now, do you wanna stand there and therapize, or do you wanna get me some coffee?" He glanced down at his books for the third time before adding on, "Make it Irish."

The three of us spun around and headed into the kitchen.

"He seems…well," I said.

"Fantastic," Dean added.

"Yeah, this isn't about Rufus at all," Sam said sarcastically.

I began working on making Bobby some coffee, listening vaguely to the boys discuss what to do with Bobby.

"We could get him out of the house," Sam suggested, pulling a newspaper clipping out of his pocket.

"How long you been carrying that one for?" I teased him slightly.

Dean chuckled before taking the clipping and looking at it.

"Three people are ganked off in the last week," Sam explained, "all freaky. Last guy was karate chopped by his garage door."

"Maybe it's just coincidence?" I said, watching the coffee maker.

"They're all blood relatives," Sam answered.

"Family curse?" Dean asked.

"Could be," Sam responded.

I glanced over as I noticed Bobby getting up from his desk in the other room. He trudged his way over to the kitchen and Dean turned around, running right into him.

"Hey grumpy, you-"

"I don't wanna do crap," Bobby cut him off. "Leave me alone."

I handed Bobby a fresh mug of coffee which he took eagerly.

"Just get out of my house, the three of you idjiots, you're driving me nuts."

"Bobby-" Dean called after him.

He spun around on his heel. "Now."

Bobby retreated back to his desk and the three of us once again stood there awkwardly exchanging glances. Dean handed Sam the newspaper clipping back and I shrugged.

"Let's go then?" I asked hesitantly.

We grabbed our things and headed out towards the car. We didn't waste time tossing our things into the back and rushing off.


	26. Chapter 26

**This chapter might seem strange and confusing at first, but just go with it. Trust me it will all make sense.**

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><p>Sam and I were leaving the courthouse, having spent the last forty-five minutes looking for records on the Russo family that had three family members die strange deaths that week, when Dean called. Sam answered on the second ring and I overheard the two exchanging the information we had found. Or lack of information rather. So far we weren't getting very far.<p>

I watched as Sam hung up the phone and let out a deep, stressed sigh.

"Back to the hotel?" I guessed.

He nodded his head as we continued further down the street and away from the courthouse. We took a seat on a bench and waited for Dean to come pick us up.

"I'm worried about Bobby," I said after a moment. "He's really not taking Rufus' death too well."

Sam nodded. "He tries to push it off like it's nothing, but it's bothering him."

"What are we supposed to do?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders before glancing down at me. He gave me a little smile and I could see his dimples. I couldn't help but to smile back.

"What?" I asked him, entirely confused.

"It's just weird that the only alone time we seem to get is moments like this."

I cocked my head to the side. "And you think that's something to smile about?"

He shook his head. "No, I think it's funny in a way that's…not funny."

I chuckled, rolling my eyes. "Sammy, you confuse me."

"Hey, lovebirds," Dean's voice called out as he pulled up alongside us. "Hop in."

I felt myself blush, but I chose to ignore it and climbed into the back of the Mustang. We made our way back to our nice hotel room after driving through a drive-thru and picking up some fast food.

We ate our dinners in silence, all three of us pouring over something that might shed some light on the case we were working. I wasn't finding anything.

I glanced down at the nightstand in the middle of the two hotel beds. We had found a string of pure gold when we had been investigating the garage of the man who had been 'karate chopped' by his garage door, as Sam had so eloquently put it. It was now laying on the nightstand beside me like a big puzzle I couldn't solve. It felt like the answer to our questions was sitting right here in front of us, but it made no sense.

"Looks like a local woman who owned a travel agency was just strangled to death by her copy machine," Sam announced, sitting straighter in his chair.

Dean and I looked over at him as he continued to read his laptop.

"Story was just released, must have been recent," Sam said.

"Well, let's go check it out then," Dean said, rising from his chair and throwing his fast food wrappers into the garbage bin.

* * *

><p>Thankfully there weren't any alarms that went off in the travel agency building as we snuck our way inside. Since it was dark out, the three of us were armed with flashlights.<p>

We each took separate areas of the room and began searching around the place for anything that might help us.

"You sure she's not somehow related to the Russo's?" Dean asked from the other side of the room.

"No, I checked the records," Sam answered him.

"Okay," I said, "So it's not a family curse. What is it then?"

"I don't know, you got me," Sam replied, looking through a stack of papers and folders.

As I was scanning around me, something glinted when the light of my flashlight passed over it. I glanced down and was surprised to find another string of gold like the one back in the hotel room.

"Well, here's something," I said, bending over and pulling the string from off the floor.

Both guys came over to see what I'd found instantly.

"Gold string," Sam said, holding it up to his face for a closer look.

"Now what?" I asked, looking between the brothers.

"Bobby," Dean said instantly.

Once we got back to the hotel, I collapsed onto the bed next to Sam, who was ever vigilant on his laptop. Dean was on the phone with Bobby and Ellen explaining to them the golden strings we'd found.

"What'd she have to say?" I asked, glancing over at Dean expectantly when he'd finally gotten off the phone.

He paused for a moment before answering. "Does the name Titanic ring a bell?"

Sam and I both exchanged a look before shaking our heads.

"Nope," we both answered.

"Maybe you can search it," Dean told his brother.

I rested my head against Sam's shoulder as I watched him type 'Titanic' into the search bar. He clicked on a site and began reading aloud from it.

"The RMS Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when it made its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912."

Dean sat there with a mug of coffee in his hand looking just as confused as I felt.

"So what's the big friggen deal? It's a ship. It sailed," Dean said.

"I don't know," Sam answered, scrolling down more on the website. "Well it looks like there was a close call. The ship almost hit an iceberg."

"So?" Dean asked.

"So…it looks like the first mate spotted it just in time," Sam said.

"Wow. Good for him," Dean said sarcastically before going back to the crossword puzzle in front of him.

"Oh wait here," I said, holding back a laugh. "Dean, you're going to love this."

He glanced back up from his puzzle with raised brows.

"The first mate's name was I. P. Freely."

He quirked a grin. "Well that's not suspicious. You got a picture of ol' Freely on there?"

Sam scrolled down further on the site as Dean got up to take a look at the laptop.

"Isn't that…" I said, pointing at the man in the picture.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Balthazar." Dean's shoulders slunk at the name.

"Time for a little angel voodoo?" I asked, glancing between the two.

"I'll set everything up," Sam said with a sigh, closing his laptop and getting off the bed.

It was half an hour later when we had finished doing our spell to call Balthazar when he actually showed up. A cocky grin on his face as per usual.

"Well gents and lady," Balthazar said, shooting me a wink as he always did, "what ever can I do for you?"

"We need to talk," Dean said, getting straight to the point.

"Oh, well you seem upset," Balthazar said, pointing out the obvious.

"What the hell is with the boat, Balthazar?" Dean asked, clearly annoyed.

"What boat?" the angel asked, feigning ignorance.

"The Titanic," Dean shot back.

"Ohhh, that boat." Balthazar said, pretending to suddenly remember. "Yes, the Titanic. Well, it was meant to sink and I saved it."

I looked at Sam, not quite following. He seemed to be confused too as he scratched the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"It was meant to bash into this iceberg thing and plunge into the briny deep and all this hoopla and I saved it," Balthazar explained simply once he noticed our expressions.

I stared at him dumbfounded. "Why?"

"Hmm?" Balthazar asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Why did you unsink the Titanic?" I asked him.

"Because I _hated_ the movie!" he answered me.

"What movie?" Dean asked, entirely lost.

"Exactly!" Balthazar exclaimed, pointing at Dean and letting out a laugh.

"You saved a cruise liner because-" Sam started but was cut off by the angel.

"Because of that God awful Celine Dion song made me want to smite myself."

"Who is…Celine Dion?" Sam asked, glancing between the angel and I.

I gave him a look that said 'how the hell should I know?'.

"She's a destitute lounge singer somewhere in Quebec, and let's keep it that way, please," Balthazar said.

I ran a hand through my hair as I stood there watching Dean trying to process the information. Sam pinched the bridge of his nose before looking back at the angel.

"I thought you couldn't change history. I thought that was impossible," Sam said.

"Haven't you noticed? There's no more rules!" Balthazar said with a chuckle.

"So you just unsunk a giant boat?" Sam asked him, slightly glaring at the angel now.

Balthazar jumped into defensive mode. "I saved people. I thought you loved that kind of thing."

I took a seat at the table behind Dean, burying my face in my hands. This was too much. Changing history? How were we supposed to fix that?

"Now all their kids, and their kids' kids are being killed. You totally butterfly affected history!" Sam shot, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Dude," Dean whispered to his brother, "rule one, no Kutcher references."

Sam pulled a face at his brother. Normally I probably would have found that funny.

"See, there's still an Ashton Kutcher, and you still reversed the apocalypse…I just…tweaked a small detail. Like, you don't drive an Impala," Balthazar said to Dean who pulled a face. "Yes, yes, what's an Impala? Trust me, it's not important."

My head was starting to hurt now.

"Oh!" Balthazar said, cheering up, "Ellen and Jo are still alive."

"What?" I asked, craning my head around Dean's back to look at the angel.

"Well, you see, they're supposed to be dead. But see, I save a boat, and one thing leads to another, which leads to another thousand things and yadda yadda yadda. Long story short, they don't die in a massive explosion."

It felt like somebody had kicked me in the stomach. Ellen and Jo died? In a massive explosion? Why couldn't I remember that? He had to be making these things up. Ellen was happily married to Bobby. And Jo was a great hunter.

"Anyway, let's agree I did a good thing. One less Billy Zane movie and I saved two of your closest friends."

"That's all fine and dandy, but someone is killing the survivor's descendants," I pointed out.

"And?" Balthazar asked as if he could care less.

"And that's maybe like, fifty-thousand people," Sam told him.

"And?" he asked again.

"And we need to save them," Dean said forcefully. "As many as we can. So we need to know who's after them."

"Oh, I'm sorry. You seem to have me confused for the other angel. You know, the one with the dirty trench coat who's in love with you?" Balthazar shot back at Dean. Dean rolled his eyes. "I. Don't care."

The angel said nothing more, just disappeared with a gust of wind. I felt like we were still sitting at square one.

"What the hell are we going to do now?" Dean asked, kicking the unoccupied chair next to me.

"What we always do when we have no leads to go on," I said solemnly.

"Bobby?" Sam guessed.


	27. Chapter 27

"Fate," Bobby said from the other line of the phone.

"You mean like…" Dean started.

"Like the Fates," Bobby said, "Or one of them at least."

I stared at the phone in Dean's hand that was currently on speakerphone.

"Like Greek mythology? Like the sisters?" Sam asked Bobby.

Dean and I shot him a look. Sam raised his brows at me questioningly and I mouthed the word 'nerd' to him. He grinned sheepishly but went back to listening to Bobby.

"Bingo. These ladies are responsible for how you go down. Literally. They're the ones who hammer out the details of how you die. They spin out your fate on a piece of pure gold."

"Gold thread," Sam said, eyeing the strings on the nightstand.

"Seems to me that Fate is just trying to clean up Balthazar's mess," Bobby said.

"How do we stop it?" Sam asked.

"How do we stop Fate? Good question."

"Well there's gotta be a way," Dean pitched in.

"Or maybe there ain't. I mean this is Fate we're talking about here," Bobby said. "Easiest way is to get Balhazar to resink that boat."

"No," Dean said quickly, "We are not sinking that boat. Don't even think about it."

"What's got your panties in a knot?" Bobby asked, noting Dean's urgent tone.

"Nothing," Dean said in a way that made it incredibly obvious there was definitely a something.

"Try that again?" Bobby asked him.

"Look, Bobby, it doesn't even really matter," Dean started.

"What?" Bobby pried.

"Apparently," Dean started again, his eyes watering a little as he averted his gaze back down to the bed, "a crap load of dominoes get tipped over and…Ellen and Jo die."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for awhile. I could just picture Bobby sitting there imagining having lost Ellen and Jo along with Rufus.

When Bobby spoke up again, there was a fire in his voice I'd never heard before. "You make sure you keep those angels from sinking that boat, you understand me?"

All three of us chorused yes's in response and Bobby hung up on us after.

"How are we supposed to save fifty-thousand people?" I asked from my place on the bed between the two.

"I got no idea," Dean answered.

"We don't even know who they are," Sam added.

"We know one," Dean said, pointing to that lawyer Russo's pamphlet on the nightstand. It was sitting next to the two gold pieces of thread.

"Guess we start there first thing in the morning," Sam said.

Dean got up and collapsed onto the other bed, turning off the lamp beside it. I got up and made my way to the bathroom to change into something more comfortable than my jeans to sleep in while Sam crossed the room to turn off his laptop. When I came back out of the bathroom, I tossed my jeans onto my duffel bag and tried not to watch Sam pulling his shirt over his head.

We hadn't had any real alone time with each other in over a week and it was starting to bother me now. Lately everything seemed to be centered around working cases. While I knew that was my job and my life, it was really starting to suck.

I felt Sam slide into the bed next to me, the heat from his body instantly making me warmer. I rolled over onto my side and cuddled up next to him and he threw an arm around me. As cheesy as it sounded, being so close and wrapped up with him like this always made me feel safer. Sometimes at night I would pretend we were a normal couple. That we were falling asleep together after a long day of working a normal day job. Sam would have gone on to be a great lawyer and I would have probably been a teacher.

But tonight I didn't have the luxury of occupying such pretend thoughts. My mind was racing with the question of how we were going to stop Fate from killing fifty-thousand people. And we only knew who one of them was.

* * *

><p>We sat across the street from Russo's law firm, quietly watching and waiting for him in the Mustang. When Dean spotted him walking out the front door with a client, he got out of the car. Sam and I quickly followed suit.<p>

"Mr. Russo!" Dean called after the man who was now on his cell phone.

We walked a bit faster, trying to catch up with him.

"Russo!" Dean called again.

Finally, after calling his name many times, the man spun around, standing just in the middle of the street he was about to cross. A van was speeding down about to hit him, but Dean raced forward just in time to pull him out of the way. Russo went hurtling on the floor and Sam pulled him up off the ground.

"Get off of me!" he shot at Sam, pulling out of Sam's grip. He spotted Dean and rounded on him. "I told you to stay away from me!"

"I'm just trying to help!" Dean said.

"Help? You almost killed me you lunatic!" He glanced over at me finally and gave me a smug look. "What do you want?"

I stood there speechless. I would have almost been okay with letting that van hit him. Almost.

"Just be glad I'm not suing your ass!" Russo shot at us as he started walking backwards into the street.

"Hey!" Dean shouted, but it was too late.

Out of nowhere a bus seemed to appear, barreling down the street. I spun into Sam's side to avoid watching the man get hit and splattering along the pavement. Sam wrapped an arm around me and held me to him. He rubbed soothing circles on my back slowly until I could calm myself down.

I have never been able to get used to the gore that comes with our line of work.

"You have got to be kidding me," Dean growled, staring at the blood trailing behind the bus.

Not only was he hit by a bus with an advertisement for his law firm dealing with wrongful death and personal injury, with the words "Justice Matters" in large print, but the bus number just happened to be 666. If this was Fate's version of irony she had a sick sense of humor.

Apparently Dean noticed this himself, nudging Sam and I and pointing it out. He gave a half grin like he was proud of himself.

"What, too soon?" He asked when he noticed the blank expressions on our faces.

Sam pulled a face at his brother. "Yeah, Dean, six seconds is too soon."

I kept looking anywhere but at the scene in front of us, my eyes scanning the shops across the street. I noticed a young blonde standing in the door of a building directly across from where we were standing. Our eyes met and she quickly disappeared.

"Hey," I said, catching the brothers' attention, "I think I just saw her."

"Where?" Both of them asked simultaneously.

"Right there," I said, pointing in front of us at the vacant building.

"Like…Fate her?" Dean asked, somewhat shocked.

"Yeah, I think so."

"What'd she look like?" He asked me.

I scratched my head, trying to find a way to describe her best to these two. "Kind of like…a librarian?"

Dean turned to me now with a contemplative look on his face. "Your kind of librarian or my kind of librarian?"

"She had clothes on, if that's what you mean," I stated.

He seemed mildly disappointed at this news but started towards the vacant building.

"Whoa," Sam said, grabbing his brother by the arm. "What are you doing? We can't just go talk to her."

"We're not on the hit list, we had nothing to do with that boat," Dean said. "Let's just, you know," he pulled his gun out of his waistband before putting it back in, "_talk_."

I followed after the two brothers into the empty building. Dean whipped out a flashlight.

We began searching around what looked like it was a soon to be restaurant. The only sound from inside was the ticking of the secondhand on the clock. Dean's flashlight suddenly went dead on us and we were left in almost darkness.

"You got a lighter?" Sam asked from beside me.

"Yeah," Dean said, pulling out his lighter.

He flicked it a few times but it refused to light.

"Is it out of juice already?" Sam asked as the three of us continued towards the backroom, where the actual kitchen had to be.

"Shouldn't be," Dean told us.

He continued on, trying to light the lighter repeatedly to no avail. We kept making our way forward in the dark towards the only possible exit other than the way we'd come in hoping to find her.

When Dean opened the door to the backroom his lighter finally lit. My eyes went wide as the building suddenly caught fire as if someone had turned all the stoves on and filled the room with gas. My heart was hammering in my chest. We were going to die.


	28. Chapter 28

**Thank you to Bruce Wayne's Mistress and SomebodyWhoCares for the reviews on the last chapter! **

**Bruce Wayne's Mistress- I agree, there aren't enough Sam/Oc stories and I'm glad you like this one! And I try my best to not have errors in the writing, I know how distracting and frustrating it can be to readers. **

**I really appreciate the feedback, it's definitely motivation to keep on writing!**

* * *

><p>I blinked and found myself along with Sam and Dean standing in the middle of a clearing. Trees were surrounding us on every side and Castiel was standing opposite the three of us.<p>

"Cas?" Dean choked out, sounding as if he'd just run ten miles.

"Hello Dean, Sam, Calista," Castiel greeted in slightly more than his monotone voice.

"Hey," Sam responded in a sharp tone, sounding just as out of breath as his brother.

My heart was still hammering too fast for me to greet the angel that just saved our lives. I was breathing pretty heavy and feeling the adrenaline coursing through me. I don't think we'd ever survived a closer call.

"Thanks man," Sam said, reaching out to grab my hand reassuringly. "Where are we?"

Castiel glanced around at the trees. "White Russia."

I gaped at the angel.

"What?" Sam shot out, just as shocked.

Dean was standing there, open mouthed, turning in a slow circle. There was a faint bird call in the distance that made him jump and he quickly shut his mouth and turned back around. He closed his eyes and ran a hand down his face, trying to calm down. He looked back over at Castiel, a pissed look on his face.

"Are you aware of what your frat bro did?" He shot at the angel.

"I'm aware Balthazar can be…impetuous."

"Well riddle me this," Dean said, "if Fate's going after the boat people, why'd she just try to waste us?"

"I imagine she harbors a certain degree of rage towards you," Castiel admitted.

"Uh, what did we do?" I asked, finally finding my voice.

"Nothing other than averting the apocalypse and rendering her obsolete," he answered. "She might be a little irritated about that. Then you go and dangle yourselves in front of her."

"So we pissed Fate off?" Dean asked.

"If I know her, and I do, she won't stop until you three are dead," Castiel told us.

"Oh, that's reassuring," I mumbled.

"What do we do?" Dean asked him.

"Kill her."

"You…want us…to kill Fate?" I asked.

Castiel looked down at me, his eye contact making me oddly uncomfortable. "Do you have another suggestion?"

"Can you even do that?" I asked him.

"Balthazar has a weapon that will work against her."

"Of course he does," Dean said sarcastically. "You need new friends, Cas."

Castiel shot Dean a sharp look. "I'm trying to save the ones I have."

I shoved my hands into my pockets, starting to feel cold from standing out in the middle of who knows where.

"We'll have to draw her out," Castiel told us.

"Well if she's after us," Sam said, "she'll have to surface again eventually, right?"

Castiel nodded. "We'll make it easy for her. I think you have an expression for it."

"Tempting fate?" I supplied.

Castiel nodded again while the brothers exchanged nervous glances.

* * *

><p>"So we're just going to…walk around…act natural," Dean said as the three of us made our way through the park Castiel dropped us in.<p>

I jumped back into Sam as a guy with a skateboard jumped over a railing and almost collided with me. Sam was gripping tightly onto my shoulders and Dean was trying hard to keep his cool. I relaxed and straightened my shirt before we continued forward again.

Seconds later a guy on a bike jumped the same railing and almost hit Sam. He stood there for a moment with his eyes tightly shut. I placed a hand comfortingly on his shoulder, feeling my heart rate accelerating now.

We made our way up the stairs the skateboarder and biker had just jumped from only to be met with a man struggling to hold onto a pair of German shepards. They were growling and barking at us as we passed, trying to escape the man's grip. Thankfully they were content with just sniffing us and moving onwards. Dean took a deep breath to calm himself as we climbed up the rest of the steps.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," Dean said as we reached the top of the stairs. "Just…keep walking."

I grabbed Sam's hand as we made our way towards a group of men juggling knives and hatchets. Once we approached, they switched out their hatchets and knives for fire batons. I stopped abruptly and let out a whine.

"Really? We're doing this?" I asked the pair beside me.

"Can't avoid fate," Sam said, giving me a tight smile.

I let go of Sam's hand and walked as fast as I could, Dean following closely at my heels. Sam stopped right before a baton hit him in the face, then closed his eyes and sprinted through. The crowd of people were staring after us as we walked away as fast as we could.

We made it farther down the street and there were a bunch of construction workers with nail guns nailing things to a building. One of them was having trouble with his nail gun and stupidly pulled it away from the wall, pointing it towards Dean and shaking it.

"Ah!" Dean shouted, standing very still until the man lowered the nail gun and went back to work.

We had been at this for awhile now, jumping at everything that looked like it was a potential way for us to get killed. I was beginning to think we were going to die of a heart attack.

"Alright, I don't get this," Dean finally said. "I mean, who do we have to kill to get killed around here?"

"Maybe Cas was wrong?" Sam suggested.

"Look out!" A man's voice above us shouted.

The three of us looked up to see a massive air conditioning system falling from the lift it was on. It was going to land directly on top of us.

I suddenly jolted awake in the backseat of the Impala. I wiped some drool off the side of my mouth as I watched Dean slowly sit up in his seat. I noticed then that Celine Dion song was playing on the radio. Dean quickly shut it off when he noticed me sitting awake in the rearview mirror. He opened the car door, which instantly woke Sam up, and stood up to stretch.

I crawled out of the back and followed suit, Sam eventually doing the same. I stretched my arms over my head before stifling a yawn. Dean was leaning up against the Impala, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Sam cracked his back and stretched out his arms too. "Dude, what time is it?"

Dean glanced at his watch and made a face. I looked up at the sky, guessing it was sometime around nine in the morning.

"I just had _the_ weirdest dream," Sam admitted suddenly.

"Twenty bucks mine was weirder," Dean said, standing up straight.

I shook my head. "No, no. I think mine took the cake."

"I'm not kidding," Sam said. "I mean, it was bizarre."

"Mine had the actual Titanic," Dean said.

I cocked my head to the side and stared at him. "So did mine…"

"What?" Dean asked when he saw my face. He glanced over at his brother who was making a face now too. "What?"

"Did it uh…not sink?" Sam asked, eyeing the two of us.

"Because Balthazar-"

"Had a hate on for Billy Zane?" Dean finished for me.

The three of us stood there staring at each other over the hood of the Impala.

"Why are you two having my dreams?" Dean asked.

"It wasn't a dream," Castiel's voice called from a distance.

All three of us spun to see him standing there, his trench coat askew again like when he'd come to rescue me from the vampires' nest.

"So, this actually happened?" I asked, not sure how I felt about that.

"Yes."

"Then…what happened?" I asked him.

"I insisted Balthazar go back in time and correct what he'd done."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"It was the only way to be sure you were safe," Castiel answered.

"You just killed fifty-thousand people for us," Sam said.

"No I didn't," Castiel responded, "They were never born. That's far different from being killed, wouldn't you say?"

"What about Ellen and Jo?" I asked Cas.

Castiel paused before he met my gaze. "I'm sorry."

"So that whole timeline was just erased?" Dean asked, trying to understand what had just happened.

Castiel nodded.

"Then why do the three of us remember it?"

"I wanted you to remember it," Castiel told him.

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I wanted you to know who Fate really is. She's cruel and capricious."

"I'd go so far as bitch," Dean threw out.

"You three are the ones that taught me that you can make your own destiny. You don't have to be ruled by fate. You can choose freedom. I still believe that that's something worth fighting for."

"So, Balthazar did all of that because of a movie?" I asked, eyeing Cas curiously. Something didn't add up.

Castiel hesitated before he answered. "Yes, absolutely that's what he did."

The way he said it sounded entirely not like Castiel. The brothers didn't seem to catch the tone of his voice, but I had.

"Might be time to take away his cable privileges," Dean joked. "Titanic didn't suck _that_ bad."

Sam shot his brother a look.

"Winslet's rack," Dean told his brother.

Sam rolled his eyes and by the time he looked back, Cas had left.

"Come on, we should probably go check on Bobby," I suggested, leading the way back to Bobby's house.

We found him passed out on the sofa, books piled on his stomach.

"Guess things are back to normal, huh?" Sam said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Once again. Awesome," Dean shot sarcastically.

"Doesn't know how good he had it," Sam mumbled, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me to him.

"Best he doesn't know," Dean told him.

The three of us agreed. We stood there in the doorframe for a minute, watching Bobby sleep for the first time in days.

"Should we wake him?" Sam offered.

"No," Dean said, shaking his head. "Probably the best he's felt all week."

Sam and I watched as Dean moved the books off of Bobby's stomach and placed them on the coffee table. He pulled the blanket down from off of the back of the couch and covered Bobby with it. It was a side of Dean Sam and I had rarely ever seen.

"Come on," Dean said, leading us out of Bobby's house. "He hasn't gotten groceries in days."

Sam and I exchanged a look as Dean made his way back to the Impala with the full intention of restocking Bobby's food supply. Sam shrugged before opening the door and gesturing for me to exit the house.

"I suppose some normality would be nice right now," I said, grabbing hold of Sam's hand as we followed after his brother.


	29. Chapter 29

Grocery shopping with the brothers had been rather amusing. Dean wanted to buy the most useless things for Bobby and Sam and I had to keep pulling things out of the cart. In the end the trip had taken us almost a good two hours. By the time we got back to Bobby's he was up and about again.

"Where'd you three idjiots get off to?" he asked when we showed up, laden with grocery bags.

"Figured you needed to be restocked," Sam answered him, placing the bags he was carrying on the kitchen table before he helped me with mine.

"You couldn't have done somethin more useful with your time?" Bobby asked, eyeing the bags Dean was holding.

"Like what?" Dean asked him.

I began unpacking the groceries, putting things away where they belonged. I figured Dean would just shove everything somewhere so I kept shooing him out of my way.

"Figuring out something to help us with this Eve so we don't all end up like taco meat?" Bobby suggested, leaning against the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee in his hands.

"We were thinking," Sam said, helping me finish up with the last of the groceries, "maybe we could check out Samuel's research. See if maybe he's got anything?"

Bobby stood in thought for a minute, mulling over the usefulness of the four of us traveling out of our way to visit Samuel Campbell's place. He must have thought there was somewhat of a point when he finally grunted out an affirmative response.

"We can head out tomorrow mornin," Bobby said, finishing up the rest of his coffee.

"Want me to make dinner?" I asked, hovering by the fridge.

"You always make dinner," Dean said, finally speaking up. He had been staring out the window for awhile now during the whole conversation. He glanced between Sam and I briefly before saying, "Why don't you two go out?"

Sam and I turned towards each other, our faces both mirroring looks of shock.

"You can even take the Impala," Dean offered.

"Whoa now," Sam said, turning to face his brother. "What's gotten into you?"

Dean shrugged and placed his car keys on the table. "I can make dinner for Bobby and I for one night."

I eyed Dean suspiciously. "You're up to something."

He chuckled now, causing Bobby to even raise a brow at him.

"Did you bring home a skinwalker?" Bobby asked.

"Look, I'm just trying to be nice," Dean defended, sounding annoyed now, "You two keep making googly eyes at each other and you don't get to spend any time together. We're just going to be sitting here tonight doing nothing. I figured you would like a chance to have a night off."

I paused a moment, taking in what he said. "That's…really nice of you."

"Yeah," Sam added, not really sure how to take it.

Dean looked incredibly uncomfortable now, standing there shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

Sam turned back to me, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. "So uhm, did you want to go out tonight then?"

"Yeah sure!" I said excitedly. We had only had a couple attempts at a date and I was eager to actually go out and have a real one.

Sam smiled wide and Bobby scoffed from his place against the counter.

"You three are a group of idjiots, I'm goin back to see if I can find anything on Eve. Let me know when you finish cooking dinner, Deanna," Bobby said, rinsing out his now empty coffee mug before quickly crossing the kitchen to grab a beer and leaving the room.

Dean stood in place with an appalled look on his face. "This is what happens when I try to be nice?"

I smirked. "Maybe you should be nice more often and this wouldn't happen."

"Shut up, squirt," Dean said.

"So what'd you want to do?" Sam asked me.

Thinking about it for a moment, I bit my lip and played with a strand of my hair.

"We should do something cheesy," I said finally.

He chuckled. "Like what?"

I shrugged. "What do couples do that's cheesy?"

"Go bowling," Dean offered over the top of the beer he'd just opened.

My eyes widened and I pointed at Dean. "Yes!"

"I was just joking," Dean said, "Besides, I don't think they make bowling shoes big enough to fit Sasquatch."

Sam glared at his brother as I hid a laugh behind my hand.

"I think bowling sounds blissfully normal and couple-y. You up for it, Sammy?" I asked, turning to look up at him.

"Any time I can beat you at something, I'm always up for it," Sam boasted.

I raised a brow at him. "Oh yeah? I bet you lose horribly to me."

"You're so on," Sam said, a grin tugging at his lips.

He grabbed up the Impala's keys from off the table and the two of us were racing out of the house.

"Don't forget, Sam needs bumpers to bowl!" Dean called out the door after us.

"Shut up, Dean!" Sam shot back at his brother.

Dean groaned from the doorway as he saw me turn the radio on. I flipped through a few stations, Sam just watching me, until I stopped on a song that caught my attention.

"You're defiling my baby!" Dean called after us.

Sam and I ignored him and turned the volume up as Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO came on. He didn't really know the song, but Sam and I were always busting out dancing to popular music, which Dean hated. But seeing as it was just us, we had a hell of a ride to the bowling alley.

About fifteen minutes later, the two of us still having our own little dance party in the front of the Impala that Dean would have been ashamed of, we pulled up into the parking lot of a bowling alley we had driven by for years but never went into. I was excited to be out and having my mind on something else for once. Plus, I hadn't gone bowling in years and I was pretty sure the same was true for Sam.

Sam paid for the lane and we both quickly got our shoes and put them on. We went over to the racks and picked out the most obnoxious bowling balls. I made Sam get a sparkly pink one.

"It suits you," I teased him, to which he shot me a look.

"You're starting to remind me of Dean," Sam told me as we made our way over to our lane.

I giggled at his comment and sat down at the computer where we typed in our names. I entered Sam's name as "SASQ".

"What is that supposed to even mean?" he asked looking over my shoulder.

I shot him a devilish grin. "Sasquatch."

He scooted me over and then proceeded to enter my name in as "BARB". I shot him a confused look.

"What the hell is barb?"

"Barbie," he said, ducking out of the way as I tried to hit him in the arm playfully.

"You ass," I joked, laughing a little. "You're the one with the pink, glittery ball."

"You're going to lose to me and my glittery ball," Sam shot with a wink.

I giggled as he stepped up to the lane first, throwing the ball down the aisle and knocking all but two pins down. He managed to get a spare with his next bowl. I booed him jokingly as he did a sort of victory dance.

The night continued on with the two of us teasing and taunting the other. I ended up losing, which Sam had no problem reminding me about. After bowling we ended up stopping at a cute little diner we'd ate at quite a few times before.

"I can't believe I lost to you," I said again before taking another bite of my burger.

Sam just laughed. "You talk a good talk, I'll give you that."

I leaned in a bit closer to Sam before I said, "Have you noticed that old lady over there keeps staring at us and smiling?"

Slowly, he turned his head a bit in the direction I had pointed out and looked. Sure enough, she was smiling at us. Sam shot her an awkward smile back before turning back to me.

"Odd," he commented.

I nodded in agreement before going back to my meal and finishing it. Sam was just about done with his burger when someone approached our booth. The two of us stopped mid-conversation and looked up. The older woman who had been shooting us smiles all night was standing there, smiling at us once more.

"I'm sorry dears, but I just had to ask. Are you two newlyweds?"

I nearly choked on my soda.

Sam cleared his throat a little uncomfortably before answering. "No, we're uh, we aren't."

The woman's smile faltered a bit. "My mistake, you just look so happy together. You reminded me of my late husband and I."

We gave her friendly smiles as she turned to leave the diner. I watched her make her way to her car in the parking lot all by herself.

"That felt a little clichéd and weird," I noted.

Sam nodded, throwing money on the table for our food before looking back up at me. "Ready to go?

"Yup," I answered, getting up and pulling my bomber jacket back on.

The drive back to Bobby's wasn't as crazy as our drive earlier had been. Our hands were intertwined together on the center console of the car the entire time.

"Tonight was easily the best night I have had in awhile," Sam admitted to me as he turned off the car.

I smiled, happy to hear that. "Good, I'm glad. It was fun for me too."

He smiled and leaned in, kissing me gently. When he pulled away I shot him a mischievous grin.

"What's that look for?" Sam asked, eyeing me curiously.

I opened the car door and looked back over my shoulder at him. "Who said the night had to be over already?" I asked him, feigning innocence.

A smirk crossed his lips as he caught my meaning.


	30. Chapter 30

**SomebodyWhoCares- What Dean doesn't know won't hurt him haha!**

**Bruce Wayne's Mistress- Then I'm sorry for the delay in getting this one out for you!**

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><p>There was a nagging feeling in the back of my mind as I watched Sam searching for the entrance to Samuel Campbell's secret room. Why were we letting him remember this piece of information? What if it kicked that wall in his head down? Granted, after I'd told him about what he'd done to me that made me uproot myself to a new home, he ended up having some flashbacks of it and nothing bad had happened.<p>

"It's here somewhere," Sam kept repeating under his breath.

I had perched myself up on top of a desk covered in books, trying my best to stay out of the way as I watched him search the room. My eyes scanned the area, taking in the dingy appearance of the book shelves and furniture. A throat cleared in front of me, snapping me back to the present.

"Sorry," I mumbled, scooting off the desk and scrambling out of the way and over to where Bobby was standing.

Sam slid the desk out of the way with ease. He scrambled down to his knees and began pulling a loose nail out of a floorboard. Once it came loose, he lifted up a square of the floor which revealed a ladder leading down into a room that I never would have guessed was even there.

The four of us climbed our way down the ladder and I was shocked to see the piles of books everywhere in the room. I ran my hand down the bindings of a few of them as I took a few steps around.

"Welcome to the Campbell family library," Sam announced as he took a look around too.

I followed Dean over to a wall that had a bunch of old photos scattered over it. I watched as the light from Dean's flashlight flew across some of the images.

"So Samuel collected all of this stuff?" Dean asked, sounding a little astonished himself.

"Apparently," Sam answered.

"Well put your tongues back in your mouths and shut your jaws," Bobby said with a sigh. "We need to find something to put a run in the octomom's stockings, not stand here and gawk at books. Grab a section and start looking."

The four of us each took a section of the room and turned on some of the lights. I picked up a book and skimmed through the pages. Some of it was written in Latin, but the pictures made me think it wasn't helpful for this case. The next book seemed to be just the same as I skimmed through the pages. Part of it was Latin, but the pictures said enough.

Book after book was piling up beside me, each one as useless as the last.

"Bingo," I eventually heard Bobby breathe out.

It must have been two hours before anyone had spoken, the sound startling me.

"What is it?" Dean asked, closing the book he had in his hand.

Bobby took a seat at the long desk in the center of the room, motioning for the three of us to do the same.

"Any of you ever heard of anything about a phoenix?" Bobby asked.

"The giant flaming bird?" I asked him.

Dean chuckled at my comment but straightened up when Bobby shot him a stern look.

"It says here," Bobby went on, "that the ashes of the phoenix can burn the mother."

"Great! Where do we get one?" Dean asked with a renewed sense of hope.

Something told me it wouldn't be that easy. If we had never heard of a phoenix until now, what were the chances we could just track one down?

"No idea, I thought it was a myth," Bobby told him.

"Alright well," Sam said, flipping through a book next to him, "let's see if we can find anything about a phoenix."

"Goody," I muttered, eyeing the stacks of books Bobby was now piling onto the table.

Sam was the nerdy researcher of the group; sitting around a pile of books for more than two hours was making me itchy to do something. And it didn't help that the 'Campbell family library' kind of felt like a hole in the ground.

Thankfully with the search narrowed down to phoenixes, it didn't take long before Dean seemed to have hit the jackpot. With a dirty, old looking journal in his hands, Dean enthusiastically pulled us to attention. Grateful for the distraction and excitement, I shut the book I had been looking through and leaned forward to listen.

"March fifth 1861, Sunrise Wyoming. Gun killed a phoenix today, left a pile of smoldering ash."

Dean plopped himself in his chair, still clutching the book in his hands, giving the three of us a smug look. He was obviously proud of himself for having been the one to find something useful.

"Who's gun?" Sam asked from beside me.

"Colt's," Dean responded simply.

"Colt, like the-"

"Like _the_ Colt," Dean affirmed, cutting me off.

I sat there, tight lipped and deep in thought as Dean showed us the book in his hands was Samuel Colt's journal.

Sam instantly got excited. "What? That's his?"

Dean nodded his head, a smile on his face.

"Dude, no way," Sam said, just as excited.

"Dude, yes way."

"Well let me see it!" Sam exclaimed, reaching for the journal.

Dean pulled it back from his reach. "Get your own."

Sam let out a huff as Bobby asked what else Colt had written about the phoenix.

"Did he say where he tracked it? What it looked like?"

"No," Dean answered, "It just says phoenix."

"We just got to find one of our own then, whatever it is," Sam said.

Suddenly a look crossed Dean's face. "I know where we can find one."

I exchanged a look with Sam.

"Where?" I asked.

"March fifth 1861 Sunrise Wyoming," Dean said in one quick breath.

Shaking my head at Dean, I slumped down in my chair. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

"We hop back in time, team up with Samuel Colt, track down the phoenix, help him kill it, and we haul the ashes back home with us," Dean said with conviction, hitting his fist on the table for emphasis.

"Time travel? That's your reasonable plan?" Bobby asked Dean skeptically.

"I've got a guy who can wing it," Dean answered.

Realization immediately dawned on Sam, Bobby and I. Castiel. Who else could bend space and time but an angel?

With a satisfied grin, Dean rose from his chair and called out Castiel's name.

"The uh…fate of the world is in the balance," Dean started, seemingly a bit awkward with his eyes closed, "So come on down here."

I looked around as he peeked an eye open. No angel was present, so Dean closed his eyes and tried again.

"Come on Cas, I dream of genie your ass down here. Please."

A flutter of wings and a rush of wind caught all of our attentions. But standing there across the room was not Castiel.

A blonde woman in a fairly nice pant suit was eyeing Dean curiously, her left brow raised. There was a slight smirk on her face.

I wasn't sure what it was, maybe it was the fact that I had been stuck in a hole reading through books all afternoon or maybe it was because it hadn't been Cas to show up, but I did not like her.

"Genie?" Dean asked, attempting humor despite his confusion.

She eyed him a bit longer before saying simply, "Rachel." Her eyes fell on me and I squirmed uncomfortably under her gaze. In an even tone that I didn't think matched her appearance she said, "I understand you need some assistance. How can I help you?"

Dean cleared his throat before glancing back at Bobby, who was just as stunned and confused as the rest of us.

"Well uh," he started, cleared his throat awkwardly, then continued on, "we kind of need to talk to the big kahuna."

"I'm here on Castiel's behalf," she responded tersely.

"Well where is he?" I asked.

Her head turned to me quickly, her gaze making me uncomfortable again. "Busy."

"Busy?" Dean asked, his arms now crossed over his chest.

Rachel stared at me a bit longer before turning back to Dean. "Yes."

"Well we have a line on the mother of…freaking everything, so-" Dean started, but was abruptly cut off by the blonde angel who was beginning to look incredibly impatient.

"I'm sure your issue is very important," Rachel began, in a tone that made it sound like she didn't think our issue had any importance at all, "but Castiel is currently commanding an army. So-"

"So we get stuck with wannabe Barbie," Dean joked, turning over his shoulder to Sam and I with a grin.

"So you need to learn your place."

With a grin still on his face, Dean turned to look back at the angel. "Look, I don't know who you think you are-"

"I'm his friend," Rachel cut in sharply.

"And you think we're not?" Sam asked her.

For the first time since she had popped up she noticed Sam. "I think you call him when you need something. We are fighting a war."

"We get that," Sam told her and I nodded in agreement.

I mean, how many times had Castiel told us about that already?

Once again she rounded on Sam, finally losing her temper. "Clearly you don't, or you wouldn't call him every time you stub your toe, you petty, entitled, little-"

"Rachel," a voice called from the corner of the room. "That's enough."

My attention turned to Castiel, along with everyone else in the room. He looked exhausted, he even sounded tired.

"I told you I'd take care of this," Rachel said, her voice now quiet.

"It's alright. You can go," Castiel deadpanned.

"You're staying?" Rachel asked him.

"Go," he ordered her, no emotion on his face. "I'll come when I can."

She eyed the other angel for a moment before a look of resignation crossed her face. In the same flutter of wings she'd arrived with, she disappeared. Castiel continued to stare at the place she had been standing moments before though.

"Friend of yours?" Dean asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, she's my lieutenant, she's committed to the cause," Castiel answered. "Now," he said, taking a few steps closer to the table we were all huddled around, "what do you need?"

"We kind of need to go back in time," Dean said, a quirky grin on his face.


	31. Chapter 31

**Sorry to everyone who's been dying for an update (especially Bruce Wayne's Mistress!). I just had finals and work that got in the way, but I'm on winter break for the next month! So hopefully I'll have more time to post!**

**Bruce Wayne's Mistress- Once again, sorry for the long delay, hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!**

**SomebodyWhoCares- I haven't decided on a fight between the two yet, other than if I continue the story onto the current season. I've thought of a few really good arguments (especially when Sam got engaged to Becky).**

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><p>Castiel didn't even waste the time letting us make the drive back to Bobby's, he just uprooted the lot of us with the Impala and suddenly we were there. My stomach was feeling a little queasy from the trip.<p>

Wasting no further time, the four of us set to work getting ready for the time traveling trip. Dean had disappeared as soon as we'd arrived back at Bobby's. I was working on making dinner while Bobby and Sam were cleaning our guns in the living room. Castiel was still with us, remaining silent for the most part, just watching us with exhausted curiosity.

"About your plan," Castiel started, catching my attention from the kitchen. "You'll only have 24 hours."

I took a few steps backward so I could look into the other room. Sam's and Bobby's faces fell noticeably.

"What? Why?" Sam asked anxiously, getting up from his chair.

"The answer to your question can be expressed as a series of partial differential equations," Castiel told him.

Sam stared at him blankly.

"The further back I send you, the harder it becomes to retrieve you," Castiel explained when he noticed Sam's confused expression. "Twenty four hours is all I can risk. If I don't pull you home within that time you'll be lost to me."

Dean came in through the front door, a few brown bags in his hands. "Well then we better get you a watch," he said, totally unfazed by the new time frame placed onto our excursion.

Bobby rose from his chair, his eyes on the bags in Dean's hands. "What the hell is that?"

"We're going native," Dean told him, causing Castiel to raise a brow. He reached out and handed a bag to Sam.

Sam glanced inside and shook his head, shoving the bag away. "Uh, no thanks. I'm fine."

"Sam," Dean pressed as Bobby just stared at him like he was nuts.

"Dean, I can wear this," Sam said, gesturing to the clothes he already had on.

"And look like a space man?" Dean responded.

"Just because you're obsessed with all that wild west stuff-" Sam started.

"No I'm not," Dean cut in, sounding offended.

I laughed from behind Dean, covering my mouth with a hand when he spun around and shot me a look.

"You have a fetish," Sam went on.

"I just like old movies!"

"You can recite every Clint Eastwood movie ever made, line for line," Sam told his brother, who was now rolling his eyes.

"Even the monkey movies?" Bobby asked Sam, a smile on his face.

"Yeah," Sam answered, "Especially the monkey movies."

"His name is Clyde," Dean shot out, his face going serious.

Sam pointed at Dean as if that's all he needed to prove his point.

"Just wear the damn shirt," Dean said, shoving the bag of clothes at his brother.

I laughed as Sam grudgingly took the bag from Dean. He looked inside as if a Wendigo was about to jump out of it. I secretly loved when the guys had dumb arguments like this.

"What are you laughing about, buttercup?" Dean asked, turning to me.

I noticed he was still holding two more bags in his hands.

"I hope to God that that bag is for Bobby and not me."

Sam was the one who started laughing next.

"Come on Sam, help me out here," I pleaded, trying to give him my best puppy dog eyes.

"No, if I have to dress like an idiot then so do you," Sam said, a smile permanently plastered across his face.

"I don't understand why you are so against wearing clothing," Castiel said curiously, watching the scene unfold.

I scoffed as I grudgingly took the brown bag from Dean. "I'm not against wearing clothing. I'm against wearing clothing from a wild west store that _Dean_ bought for me."

"Hey!" Dean said, offended again, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't trust what you would dress me in," I said simply.

"Dude, you're dating my brother. I'm not trying to get you half naked anymore."

My jaw fell open and I noticed Sam cross his arms across his chest. I could see him clenching his jaw.

Dean threw up his hands in surrender. "I was joking, jeez."

I didn't even bother to look inside at the clothes Dean had bought for me. "Let's go eat dinner quick before it gets cold. Then we can go time travel."

"Great! What's for dinner!" Dean said, clapping his hands together and eyeing me expectantly.

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><p>"I don't want to wear this, Sam," I whined as I dumped the contents of the brown paper bag onto the bed.<p>

Sam was doing the same on the other side of the bed before he glanced over at my pile of clothes with a smile.

The dress looked like something a saloon girl would wear in the 1800's. Tights and all.

"I'm not wearing this, everyone's going to think I'm some sort of a whore."

"Oh come on," Sam said, smiling at me, "They probably won't."

I rolled my eyes. "You two can go, I'm going to stay back. I'm not going to be some sort of a whore for Dean's amusement."

Sam chuckled. "Come on, Dean's going to be disappointed if you don't come with."

"I think you're going to be disappointed," I teased him.

Sam smirked, making his way through the room towards me. There wasn't a moment's hesitation before his lips were on mine. I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around his neck. Things started to heat up between the two of us and Sam suddenly had me on the bed.

We broke apart reluctantly when Dean knocked on the bedroom door. "You two need to hurry up!"

Sam was frowning as he looked down at me. "He did that on purpose."

"You should probably get dressed, cowboy," I said, shooting Sam a wink.

He rolled his eyes, pecked me once more on the lips, and then slid off of me. He began unbuttoning the shirt that was now crumpled up on the bed and I sat up, watching him. Every few seconds he'd glance back over at me and smile.

"Want some help with that?" I asked coyly.

Within moments we were picking up where we had left off when Dean had interrupted us. My hands were quickly unbuttoning the plaid shirt he had on. Sam threw it off and across the room before his hands were back on my waist. My hands wasted no time roaming his chest. I smiled a little when I playfully bit Sam's lip and he let out an audible gasp. I pulled away with a smug look on my face.

"You should probably hurry up and get dressed," I told him again, a smirk on my face.

He groaned before flopping onto the bed. "Why did you do that?"

I laid down beside him and smiled when his hand instantly found mine and held it.

"Because I can," I told him simply. "And because I'm probably going to have to resist doing that when we head back downstairs."

"Then let's not head back downstairs, let's just stay here," Sam suggested, squeezing my hand a little.

I sighed. "I'd love to Sammy, but unlucky for us, we don't get that luxury."

He turned his head and caught my eyes with his. "I wish we could get out of all of this. For good. Be normal for once, get to enjoy ourselves."

"Maybe someday," I said just above a whisper.

We laid there for a few minutes, staring at each other. I sat there thinking of what life could be like for us if we could get out of the hunting life. I wasn't sure what was running through Sam's mind, a sudden look of deep thoughtfulness was creasing his brows slowly. He was absentmindedly chewing on his lower lip while he was mulling thoughts over.

Another knock on the bedroom door came, causing the two of us to jump apart.

"Stop fucking and let's go!" Dean's annoyed voice came through the door.

"We aren't fucking!" I shot back.

"You're right, I'd hear you if you were!" Dean called back through the door.

"One of these days Dean I'm going to kick your ass!" I called back, though he knew I was only joking.

"Whatever squirt, just hurry up you lovebirds. You can screw when we get back."

I listened as Dean descended the stairs again.

"He makes a valid point," I said after a moment.

Sam shot me a confused look.

"The quicker you go and haul that phoenix ash back here, the sooner we can finish where we left off."

"Well, in that case," Sam said, quickly sitting up straight and throwing the silly wild west shirt on.

I laughed as I watched Sam dress the fastest I'd ever seen him dress. He only grinned at me sheepishly as he pulled on a goofy looking gaudy belt.

"You're really not coming?" He asked when he'd finished dressing.

I paused for a moment, glancing back at the frightful dress on the bed. I cringed at the thought of being out in public and not wearing it as a Halloween costume.

"You're actually going to miss out on traveling back in time because of a dress?" Sam asked, rephrasing the question.

I let out a reluctant sigh. "Well, I suppose it's not everyday we go back in time to hunt down phoenixes."

Sam smiled triumphantly. "Get dressed, I'll be downstairs keeping Dean quiet."

When he left the room, I eyed the dress lying on the bed.

"I hate you just as much as you hate me," I told the dress before I gave in and reluctantly changed.

Somehow, some way, I was going to get Dean back for this.


	32. Chapter 32

**I know, it has taken me a _really_ long time to finally post this part. I have been busier than I've been in awhile lately, but here is part 32, finally!**

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><p>"What in the hell are you wearing, Calista?"<p>

I glared at Bobby. "The stupid clothes Dean bought for me, obviously."

"At least she'll blend in," Dean said, trying hard to keep a straight face.

My glare shifted to Dean and through gritted teeth I said, "You're going to regret this."

Dean only rolled his eyes and waved me off with a hand. "Don't be a drama queen."

"I look like a drag queen!" I shouted.

"We don't have time for this," Castiel said, interrupting us. "I'll send you back to March fourth, that should give you enough time to find Samuel Colt. And the phoenix."

"Alright, well," Dean said, grinning the biggest grin I'd ever seen on his face before a hunt as he turned to Bobby, "See you at high noon tomorrow, partner."

He winked at Bobby who just exaggeratedly rolled his eyes. Castiel reached forward and placed two fingers on Sam and Dean's heads and they disappeared. A second later and I was standing beside the brothers, feeling my stomach in knots. Time traveling was definitely not a pleasant feeling.

We were standing outside a little town with a wooden sign indicating that we were in Sunrise, Wyoming. The huge grin on Dean's face was still there.

"Aw, now we're talking," Dean said in awe as he did a full 360 spin, taking everything in.

I just glanced down at my outfit, looked up at the town, and glared back at Dean. Everything looked dull and brown here, except for me. The stupid dress was starting to become a little itchy and uncomfortable, too.

"Well, we should go find Samuel Colt," Dean said, eyeing up the town.

Sam nodded absently as he set the timer on his watch for twenty four hours.

"We should check out the saloon first," Dean added as an afterthought, "See what we can get from the locals."

"I already know what I'm going to get," I mumbled irritably.

The brothers turned to glance at me.

"Propositions. Since I look like a prostitute."

Dean just turned around, ignoring me, while Sam gave me a sympathetic smile.

"It's only twenty four hours, and we're never going to see these people again," Sam reminded me.

I nodded and took in a deep breath. I just had to suck it up and focus.

"Oh come on," Dean groaned from ahead of us. He picked up his left foot and his nose wrinkled in disgust.

"Watch where you're stepping. There's horse shit," I announced, smiling smugly at him as I walked by.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sam asked, pointing ahead of us.

There were four men standing on a platform, one with a noose tied around his neck. A group of townspeople were gathered below the platform ready to watch the execution. I cringed at the thought of us having to watch it.

"We don't need to witness this do we?" I asked the brothers in a small voice.

Neither of the two answered me, both too caught up in what was unfolding in front of us. As we joined the crowd of townspeople there were a few men whose eyes lingered and I noticed a woman sneering at me.

I stiffened and turned my eyes back to the man with the noose around his neck.

"You got anything to say?" a man, who I assumed was the sheriff judging by the badge on his vest, asked the man about to be hung.

He appeared calm to me for a man that was about to be executed. He just turned to the man on his left and said, "You're going to burn for this." A smug look was on his face as he surveyed the crowd and he added, "Everyone here."

With that, they dropped him through the platform, the noose tightening around his neck. I couldn't watch.

"Good times," Dean mumbled sarcastically beside me.

"Where do we find Samuel Colt?" I asked, trying my best to not look at the platform.

"No idea," Sam answered, his eyes scanning the crowd that was now dispersing around us.

The man in front of us turned around. He eyed the three of us curiously before staring at Dean.

"Nice blanket," he teased before turning and walking off.

I tried to hide my snicker behind my hand as Dean's face fell. In no time he was pulling the poncho off over his head and tossing it onto the ground.

"Still excited to be here?" I asked him.

"Shut up," Dean shot, a pout on his face.

"Come on," Sam said, trying to get us back on track. "Maybe the sheriff has an idea where we can find Colt."

Following behind Sam's tall form, we made our way towards a wooden building. I tried my hardest to avoid the stares, but I couldn't help but turn red when a man wolf whistled at me. Dean was chuckling at my expense beside me.

"I hate you," I whispered to him.

The sheriff's building was smaller than I'd have imagined as we stepped inside. Just a few prison cells and a desk in the middle of the room. I eyed the three men sitting there, two of which appeared to have been playing poker.

"Sheriff," Dean announced, puffing out his chest a little, "Can we have a word?"

"Depends who's asking," the sheriff said, now eyeing me.

Uncomfortably I readjusted the dress and held his gaze.

"Marshall Eastwood," Dean responded. He pulled part of his vest down and from beside him I saw a little badge like the sheriff's pinned to his shirt.

It took a lot of effort not to roll my eyes, especially when Dean decided to become Clint Eastwood.

Sam let out a little huff beside me though.

"This here's Walker, as in Texas Ranger," Dean said, pointing to his brother. He glanced at me before adding, "And she's not important."

I shot Dean a glare as he winked at me. Turning back to the men at the desk he informed them that we were looking for someone.

"I'm sure you are," the sheriff mumbled.

"Nice shirt," the second man playing poker said.

"What's wrong with my shirt?" Dean asked defensively.

"You're all very clean."

I watched Dean clear his throat awkwardly. He pretended to pick a piece of lint off his sleeve. "It's dirtier than it looks."

"Look, we just need to find Samuel Colt," I said, finally growing tired of all the time we were wasting here.

"The gun maker?" the sheriff asked, a little surprised.

"Yes, is he in town?"

"Not that I know of, might try asking Elkins over at the saloon," the sheriff told us.

I thanked him before heading back outside, the boys in tow. Without even pausing I headed straight over to the saloon, only to stop when Dean's hand grabbed my shoulder at the entrance.

"I've always wanted to do this," he told me with a boyish glint in his eye.

I let out a sigh but gestured for him to push open the saloon doors, Sam and I following behind him. The smile on his face fell immediately.

There were a few drunks snoozing at different tables, and some dirty looking saloon girls eyeing up the boys and shooting me glares.

"This is disappointing," Dean grumbled before trudging his way over to the bar. "Are you Elkins?" he asked the bartender.

"The one and only. What'll ya have?" the man asked Dean with a very annoyed look.

"I'll have your top shelf whiskey," Dean answered him.

With that same dead straight look on his face he said, "I only have the one shelf."

"That'll do just fine and he'll have a sarsaparilla," Dean told the man who started pouring the drinks.

I nudged Dean before he could order anything for me. "We don't have time for this!" I whispered irritably.

He only rolled his eyes at me before turning back to the bartender, his giddy smile returning.

"So do you know a man named Samuel Colt?" I asked Elkins, leaning forward against the bar and hoping I didn't look provocative doing so.

"Yeah, he passed through here about four years ago."

Sam smiled warmly, as if he was hearing about his favorite idol.

"He's still around?" Sam asked.

"Rumor is he's about twenty miles out of town just by postal road," the bartender answered. "Building something out in the middle of nowhere."

"Devil's gate," Sam whispered to us.

"Location fits," Dean said.

"Howdy boys!" A loud, boisterous voice called from across the room.

The three of us turned to see a woman coming down the stairs. She was older than the two I'd spotted when we came in, and larger than them as well.

"Darla is my best girl," Elkins said with a smirk.

I spotted what definitely had to be herpes on her lip and shrank back against Sam.

"Looks like you're lonely," she said to Dean, stopping in front of him at an uncomfortably close distance.

He was shoved up against the bar counter, craning his neck back to keep himself as far away from the sore on her lip as he could.

"You want a kiss?" She asked him, pulling out her best seductive look.

I didn't know whether to laugh or help Dean out. I didn't have to wonder long though, as an older gentleman Darla referred to as 'Judge' had come into the saloon and called out her name sternly.

"I thought we had a date?" the man asked stiffly.

"Of course," Darla said, pulling away from Dean reluctantly and following the man back up the stairs she had only moments before come down. She shot Dean a wink before she was out of eyesight.

"Close call," Dean murmured as he grabbed his shot of whiskey off the bar.

Moments later I was wiping it off the front of my dress, giving Dean an annoyed look.

"This is more like gasoline," Dean choked out.

Sam took a sip from his glass and shot his brother a smug smirk.

"We aren't here for drinking games," I pointed out, starting to wish I'd stayed back at Bobby's more and more.

A loud scream from upstairs caught everyone's attention, even causing some of the sleeping bar patrons to jolt awake.

"Now what?" I wondered aloud.


	33. Chapter 33

**Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter, I'm glad you're all still reading and enjoying the story! Here's the next part, and thankfully it didn't take me a month to get out!**

**Also! I can't remember if I gave Calista a last name previously and I can't seem to find it, but it's Blackwell from here on out. If there's an inconsistency from a previous chapter please let me know so I can fix it!**

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><p>Racing up the stairs, Dean threw the door open and Sam and I clambered in right behind. Darla was scared stiff across the room, shaking in the corner in what I presumed was the undergarments of this time period. My eyes quickly caught on to what she was staring at and I fought the urge to retch.<p>

There was Judge, or rather what was left of the old fool, on the bed. Nothing but a pile of smoldering ash and bones, the smoke still rising from the heap.

Another set of feet were rushing up the stairs a moment later. I spun around to see the sheriff standing there, his mouth open in shock briefly before he regained his professional composure.

I still felt like retching.

"What happened here?" the sheriff asked, his eyes glued to the crime scene on the bed.

"It was a ghost," Darla answered, sounding scared out of her mind.

"It wasn't a ghost, unless they leave footprints," the sheriff answered back, pointing straight at a set of muddy footprints right beside Dean.

"I am tellin' ya, Elias Finch was here," Darla sputtered, wrapping a nearby shawl around her body for the sake of modesty. The herpes on her lip seemed to make any of her attempts at modesty almost comical; had this been another situation I'd have made a joke. "He did…_that_…and he walked out that door," she continued on.

"Rope must not have killed him," the sheriff concluded, "I've seen it before."

"You got any idea where he could be?" Sam asked from beside me.

The sheriff shrugged a bit, his hands on his hips. "Could be a thousand places."

I caught Dean rolling his eyes beside me from the corner of mine. "You got a way to flush him out?"

The sheriff quickly relayed his plans for forming a posse and putting a bullet in this Elias Finch's head, for good measure, and the brothers quickly agreed to be there when the mob formed at dawn.

"Might be a good idea to get yourselves some real gear first," the sheriff chided before he left the room.

Dean stood there with an affronted look on his face and I just grinned. He raised an accusatory finger at me and said simply in a firm tone "stop it" before exiting the room in a huff.

Sam and I exchanged short, amused chuckles before we were interrupted by Darla clearing her throat.

"Is someone going to clean that up?" she asked, her nose wrinkled in disgust at the bed.

"Sorry doll, we do not get paid for that," I said, grabbing Sam by the hand and pulling him out right after Dean.

He had already made it out of the saloon and was making his way towards the outside of the little town. Sam let go of my hand and gently placed his hand on the small of my back, ushering the both of us into a quick trot to catch up with his brother. I had to hitch up the bottom of my dress so as not to trip on it, which was potentially a bad idea because I heard some very vulgar things called out to me.

"You just going to stand there and let them talk about your woman like that, Sammy?" Dean asked with a chuckle when we had caught up to him.

"His woman?" I asked.

"Yeah. Shouldn't you be sticking up for her? Defending her honor or somethin'?" Dean asked his brother.

"If you wouldn't have dressed me like a harlot, dear Dean, I wouldn't be dealing with this background noise," I told him with a glare.

He just smiled and said, "If I'm getting made fun of, it's only fair you're getting propositioned."

"Alright, that's enough," Sam said, cutting in between the two of us. "Let's go pay a visit to ol' Finch's grave and see what's going on, okay?"

There was a moment of a stare down between Dean and I before the two of us assented and continued forward towards the cemetery. By now the sun was falling quickly past the horizon and the brothers had managed to grab some lanterns on our way.

"Why is there always fog in cemeteries?" I grumbled as we stepped around the crosses that marked the graves.

"I'm judging that's his grave," Dean said, ignoring me completely.

The three of us stopped dead in front of a plot that looked as if someone had just crawled out of it. Which, despite it giving me the creeps, is what had probably been the case.

"Rose from his ashes and burned up his victim?" Dean threw out his guess, glancing between Sam and I.

"On the bright side," I tossed in, "at least we aren't looking for some giant, flaming bird."

Sam nodded, lowering his lantern to his side. "That makes sense. So we're actually looking for Elias Finch. But now the question is how do we get rid of this thing?"

"I don't even have the slightest clue," Dean said, running a hand down his face.

Silence passed between the three of us as we thought. Sam stood there, deep in thought, probably wishing he was near a laptop, while Dean began pacing back and forth. I could hear the crickets chirping it was so silent in the cemetery. A breeze blew by, causing goosebumps to rise on my skin and a chill to run up my spine. Involuntarily I started rubbing my arms with my hands wishing we were back at Bobby's. That was when a thought hit me.

"We do know of one thing that can kill anything," I said, breaking the silence.

Instantly a light of recognition jumped up on both the guys' faces.

"The Colt!" Dean said as if we'd been stupid to not have thought of it sooner. "Problem solved. You two go get the gun."

Sam paused a moment. "But…isn't the gun coming here? Doesn't Samuel Colt come to kill the phoenix himself? I mean, according to his journal?"

"Yeah but people here barely even know who Colt is."

"So you're saying," I cut in, "that you think maybe we're supposed to go find him and make history?"

"Yes. Absolutely," Dean said, a smug look on his face.

"Why does that just creep me out?" I muttered to myself.

"And what are you going to do?" Sam asked his brother.

The smug look never left Dean's face as he responded. "I'll stay here and hook up with the posse. Cause you know me, I'm a posse magnet." He paused and I could see him fighting back a grin. "I mean I love posse."

Sam shot his brother a look that said just how not amused he was with the joke.

"I wonder if that noose is still hanging back in town, cause where this conversation is heading, I'm about ready to hang myself," I said.

"I should make that into a t-shirt," Dean added on, ignoring me.

"You done?" Sam asked his brother.

Dean's face fell momentarily as if he'd just been scolded by a parent, but moments later a goofy grin was permanently spread across his lips. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the dork. He was such an overgrown child sometimes.

"Colt is twenty miles outside of town anyway, how are we supposed to get there and back before noon?" Sam asked his brother in total seriousness.

Dean glanced over his shoulder towards a stable and gestured with his thumb.

"Horses?" I asked skeptically.

"Ride 'em cowboy," Dean teased.

"Alright, enough with your ingenious wit, let's get going," I said, tired of once again wasting the precious time we had.

Without further delay we had rented two horses with money I had no idea Dean had on him, seeing as our cash was from the future. Sam uncomfortably mounted a brown mare beside me and I awkwardly mounted the black horse that was left. I had never ridden a horse before; I had no idea what I was doing. And this cursed dress was becoming even more of a pain in my ass by the minute.

"We need to be back by eleven in the morning, right?" Sam reaffirmed.

"Yes, don't be late," Dean said gruffly, his joking tone finally gone.

Sam's horse started off before he knew what was happening and Dean and I stared off after him. It was like watching a giant ride atop a miniature pony. He looked beyond awkward in the saddle.

"I'm okay!" Sam called back towards the two of us.

"Oh that poor horse," Dean mumbled sympathetically.

I let out a laugh but it was cut short by Dean smacking the flank of the horse I was on and it took off, taking me entirely by surprise.

"Hey you ass!" I called out over my shoulder, to which laughter was the only response I obtained.

Sam and I rode side by side, or at least as close as we could manage seeing as neither of us really knew how to control our horses, at a fast gallop all the way to our destination. There wasn't much talk between us, which made the trip seem like it dragged on.

By the time we'd finally made it to Colt's place, or what we thought was Colt's place, the sun had been up for a bit. We tied up our horses outside and hesitantly made our way towards the somber looking house. The wooden door was already open ajar, so Sam took the liberty of just waltzing right on in. A little more timid than him, I followed in afterwards.

"Hello?" Sam called out, looking around the quiet place.

Gently I shut the door behind me, not wanting anything to sneak up on me. I jumped in surprise as I felt something being splashed on the side of me. Sam's hands were suddenly raised up to show we meant no harm as he was splashed with something from out of an older gentleman's flask.

"Whoa, we're not demons, just hunters," Sam assured the man who was eyeing us up and down.

"You're what?" he asked.

"Are you Samuel Colt?" Sam asked him.

The older gentleman didn't respond, just continued to eye us.

"My name is Sam Winchester, and this is Calista Blackwell," Sam introduced, trying to break the tension in the room. "We're hunters from the year 2011."

The man tossed his now empty flask on a nearby desk before crossing his arms over his chest. "Prove it."

Without hesitation, Sam reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his cell phone and handed it to the guy. He looked at it a bit, turning it over in his hands.

"Alright," he said, setting the phone down and going over to a bottle of whiskey and an empty glass. He began to pour himself a drink, saying nothing further.

I was really beginning to not like Samuel Colt.

"'Alright?' That's it?" Sam asked in disbelief, probably feeling exactly like I was.

"When you've done this job as long as I have, a giant from the future with a magic brick doesn't exactly surprise you," he said, downing some of his drink.

Sam ignored the comment about his height, probably glad Dean was not here to witness their idol making such a remark, and continued on. "We need your help killing a phoenix."

"A phoenix? They exist?" Colt asked, finishing the rest of his drink.

"You shoot one in about three hours," I told him, not wanting to waste yet more time.

"If you say so," Colt responded with an air of disbelief as he poured yet another glass and took a drink.

"She doesn't," Sam cut in, pulling the journal out of the inside pocket of his jacket, "you do."

Colt perked up at this as Sam sat the book on his desk. He set his glass down and ran his finger across the cover.

"That's…my journal." He paused, staring at it. "I'm either too drunk or not drunk enough."

Samuel Colt collapsed into the chair behind his desk, his eyes never leaving the journal. He looked tired, kind of the way I sometimes noticed Bobby would look when we were working a case.

"So what is it you say I'm about to do?"

"There's a phoenix in Sunrise, so if we leave now-" Sam started but was cut off.

"I appreciate your situation but I'm not going to be of any help to you. I'm already booked."

"But you say right here," I said, picking up the journal and flipping to the page just as the old man waved me off.

"Don't believe everything you read," he told me.

"But you're a hunter," I started, only to be cut off myself.

"Retired," he corrected.

Sam shook his head. "There's no such thing."

"I'm out," Colt said firmly.

"There's no getting out," Sam pressed. "For what it's worth, in my time, you're a hero."

Colt looked utterly shocked. "Me?"

"Yes sir," Sam told him.

Colt seemed to let that idea settle with him a moment. Taking yet another drink, a dazed look crossed his face as if he was thinking.

"We have to kill this phoenix," I spoke up urgently, "its ashes are the only thing that can kill the monster we're hunting. So just…set aside your crap for a few hours and let's go."

Sam was staring at me with a look of admiration on his face. I don't think he thought I had it in me to boss around _the_ Samuel Colt. If we weren't in such a time crunch though, I admit, I'd probably have gone with a different tactic.

"Either you're coming with us or we're taking the gun," I said firmly.

Colt eyed me curiously. "What gun?"

I shot him a look. "_The_ gun."

"Oh that gun." He paused to take another drink. "I lost it in a game of stud."

"You're lying," Sam spoke up.

"Am I?" Colt asked with a laugh. "Now that doesn't sound like me!"

"You just shot a couple demons with it less than an hour ago," I said gruffly, instantly shutting him up.

"How do you figure?"

"Are we really going to play 21 questions with him?" I asked, exasperated, turning to Sam.

He took in a deep breath before turning to Colt. "Two pairs of boot prints. Cabin reeks of sulfur."

"Not bad," Colt admitted, pulling back his coat to reveal the gun in a holster at his hip. "It's a curse. Trust me you don't want it."

"Great then let us take it off your hands," Sam offered.

"You go put on a few more miles and come back and we'll talk," Colt stated firmly, letting his coat fall back into place.

"Oh trust me, he's got plenty of mileage," I said, bordering on a rude undertone with my impatience, "we both do."

His eyes held mine for a bit, that tired look still hiding behind them. "Believe me, I'm doing you a favor."

"So you're just going to sit there?" Sam asked him, seemingly losing respect for the man now too.

"I've given my whole life to this. I'm done."

There was a tone of finality to his words, but that didn't do anything but seem to fire Sam up.

"It doesn't even matter what happens?" he asked Colt.

"No it doesn't," the old man replied.

"Everything you did means nothing?" Sam asked, disturbed at the thought. Quickly he shook the thought out of his head. "Just give me the gun," Sam demanded, reaching his hand out over the expanse of the desk towards him.

Colt stared the two of us down for awhile and I began to wonder if we'd have to just knock the old man out and take it from him. With the amount of time he was wasting us, I wasn't exactly against the idea.


	34. Chapter 34

**Thanks for the reviews guys! You'll be happy to know I've got two more chapters already written up!**

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><p>"Dean!" Sam called out sharply, his voice barely above a whisper.<p>

"Sam! Cali!" Dean called back, clearly happy to see us. "Where's Colt?"

I shook my head. "He's not coming."

"What?" Dean asked sharply.

"He did give us this, though," Sam said, pulling the colt from his inside jacket pocket.

Dean let out a low sigh, taking the gun from his brother and stroking the hilt. "Hello beautiful," he murmured.

"Alright, let's hurry up and get this over with," I said, more impatient then ever.

Our time had been running out and we didn't have more than a few minutes left to kill this phoenix and collect its ashes. My fingers were crossed that we could even pull it off.

"Stay back," Dean said to Sam and I as he stepped out into the middle of the town.

"What're you doing?" Sam called after his brother.

"Get out here Finch!" Dean shouted out.

A figure approached from alongside a building. I recognized him immediately as the man who'd been hanged just the evening before.

"So this is how you want to die?" Finch asked Dean. "Fine by me."

I wished more than anything that I was just watching one of Dean's cheesy western movies right now instead of an actual dual. My left hand reached out to grab Sam's wrist for support. Sure the colt would kill the phoenix, but not if Finch shot Dean first.

My eyes darted to the clock and my death grip on Sam's wrist tightened. We had one minute left until Castiel pulled us back.

I watched as Dean's hand paused just above the gun in his holster at his side. The two stood like that for a few seconds before they drew their weapons. In the space of a fraction of a second the sound of two bullets had broken the tension.

Finch's bullet had missed, but Dean's had hit his target just below the heart. That didn't matter though, seeing as it was a bullet from the colt that killed anything and everything. The man just erupted into flames in front of our eyes, screaming, until he dropped to the ground in nothing but a heap of ashes.

In typical Dean fashion, he blew the smoke from the tip of the colt dramatically.

"Yippee ki-yay, mother fucker," Dean said smoothly, shoving the gun back into his holster.

We had no time for laughter or a chance to tease him, the town's clock struck noon and we were out of time.

"The ashes!" Sam called out.

All three of us rushed forward and suddenly I found myself on the floor of Bobby's living room, my stomach tied up in queasy knots. I sat there on my knees beside Dean who wore a matching expression.

We had failed to gather any of the ashes. Everything had all been a waste.

"You've got to send us back!" Dean said urgently to Cas.

Sam let out a sigh from behind us. "Dean, look at him. He's fried."

"I never want to do that again," Castiel said, confirming Sam's observation.

Bobby was sitting behind his desk, his eyes barely open. A glass of something was sitting in front of him and it faintly reminded me of Samuel Colt.

"You alright Bobby?" I asked as I slowly picked myself up.

"I'm still kicking, Annie Oakley," Bobby responded, a hand to his forehead and his eyes shut. "I'll be as good as new in a decade or two."

"We screwed the pooch," Dean said, completely defeated, still slouched over on the floor.

He was right, too. We had returned empty handed and were in no better of a situation than what we'd left in.

"Bobby, I'm sorry," Dean said sincerely, running a hand through his hair in frustration.

A knock came at the door causing all of us to jump, except for Castiel who never seemed to start at anything. I exchanged a curious glance with Sam before he went to answer the door. He came back with an astounded look on his face and a brown package in his hands.

All of us gathered around him as he set it down on Bobby's desk and began unwrapping it. Even Castiel was leaning forward curiously.

Inside the package was a wooden box. Sam slid the lid off of it to reveal his completely charred and ruined cell phone and a note, written in what we'd come to know as Colt's handwriting from the journal we had found.

Sam pulled the note out and began to read it aloud. "Dear Sam, I got this address and date off your thingamajig and thought the enclosed might come in handy. Regards, Samuel Colt."

Underneath the note and some of the straw that was used for packing inside the wooden box, Sam pulled out a clear glass bottle filled with black powder.

Bobby leaned forward, mouth slightly agape. "Is that what I think it is?" he asked in disbelief.

"Ashes of a phoenix," Dean said. "You know what this means?"

"Yeah," answered Bobby right away, "I didn't get a soulonoscopy from angel hands for nothing."

"Yes, and it means we take the fight to _her_," Dean said roughly, and with dramatic flair he lifted up his cowboy hat and placed it on his head, sliding his thumb and forefinger down the brim for added effect.

"Idjiot," Bobby said, sounding more like himself again.

Dean only smirked, ignoring the insult.

"I don't know about you two, but I had fun. We should take more trips like that in the future," Dean joked.

There was a resounding chorus of 'no' from around the room.

"I would rather be torn apart by a werewolf," I told him half-jokingly. "And now without further time to waste, I'm getting out of this horrible dress and then strangling you with it."

"Sounds kinky," Dean said with a wink.

I rolled my eyes and smacked him upside the head as I left the room. A shower and real clothes, my own actual clothing, and maybe some food, were the only things on my mind. I raced up the stairs right away and began peeling off my layers before jumping into the shower and letting the warm water relax me. By the time I'd finished and changed, Bobby had food ready downstairs.

I inhaled the meal down quickly, ignoring the comments from Dean about how I ate like him. We didn't really eat much when we had been back in Sunrise; there wasn't really an importance for food when we were on a time constraint. Granted, had we have known Colt would have pulled through for us like that, I don't think we would have been so rushed.

Sam seemed a bit quieter than usual throughout the meal, and he hurried upstairs to take a shower himself afterwards without saying much. I assumed he was just tired, but part of me wondered if that was really it or if there was something more.

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked me a few hours later just as I was leaving through the front door.

I shrugged, not sure where I was heading, just needing to get away. Sam hadn't come back down after his shower. I had been assuming he was sleeping until I heard him talking to Dean, who had afterwards been shooting me concerned looks the rest of the evening. I had no idea what was going on, but it was annoying me. I was being left out of something that much was for sure.

"Just be careful," Bobby called out after me.

I shut the door behind me and pulled the sleeves of my sweatshirt farther down over my hands. It was getting a little chilly out now that the sun was going down and I probably could have done with bringing a coat.

The entire time I was outside taking my walk around Bobby's salvage yard my mind kept wandering back to Sam's odd behavior. Over and over I kept telling myself that it was nothing other than him just being tired, but I was beginning to wonder. Something had to be going on and I was going to figure out what.


	35. Chapter 35

**Figured I'd post 2 today to be super nice especially since the last one was kinda short. Enjoy!**

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><p>It was about ten when I made my way inside from the walk I had been taking around the salvage yard. By no means was ten at night considered late by any of our standards, but our excursion hadn't left us time to sleep in those twenty four hours and now that the adrenaline had officially finished its effects, I was worn out.<p>

It was dark inside Bobby's house when I entered and the only sound was coming from the living room TV. Shutting the front door quietly behind me, I tiptoed through the kitchen and made my way silently through the living room. Bobby was asleep upright in his recliner that was positioned directly in front of the TV. The late night news was playing on low volume to his sleeping figure. Glancing around I noticed Castiel must have left while I had been out since he was nowhere to be immediately found.

With careful hands I took the remote from Bobby's right hand and shut the television off, instantly tossing me into darkness. The only light came from the moon outside through the nearby window and it took my eyes a moment to adjust. I spotted the almost empty glass of whiskey in his left hand before I had turned around and gently pulled it from his hands and placed it on the coffee table by the sofa. I grabbed the blanket from off the back of the couch and lightly draped it across Bobby, who was now beginning to snore a little. Assured that Bobby was as comfortable as he was going to get tonight, I made my way up the stairs, expertly avoiding the places I had discovered over the years that creaked.

Sam was already asleep in the bed with the sheets pulled up to his neck. Judging by the crease on his forehead, he wasn't having a pleasant dream. Briefly I wondered how he was doing with that wall Death had put up in his head and if the crease in his brows had anything to do with that. I shook the thought from my mind and changed out of my jeans in the darkness into something more comfortable to sleep in.

Pulling the sheets back I crawled into the bed beside his sleeping form. After the way he'd been with me since we returned to the present, I felt like a stranger crawling under the covers. I didn't like the feeling. With much effort not to disturb the sleeping form beside me, I rolled onto my left side so my back was to him and pulled the sheets up high towards my face. It took a lot of effort to ignore the sinking feeling in my stomach.

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><p>Light assaulted my eyelids in the morning so much so that I couldn't ignore it any longer and was forced to wake up. I could faintly hear sounds coming from the kitchen downstairs and I rolled gingerly onto my back only to discover that Sam wasn't there beside me. Reaching out a hand I touched the space where he had been lying the night before. It was cold.<p>

I took a minute to rub the sleep from my eyes and to collect myself. Just because that was unlike him didn't mean anything.

In attempts to prolong any interactions with Sam I jumped into the shower and even went so far as to fix my hair a bit. After sufficiently killing about forty minutes I decided I couldn't hide out in the bedroom all day and made my way downstairs. I noticed Bobby in his study from across the living room. He seemed busy studying something over and to my surprise, I didn't see a bottle of alcohol anywhere directly near him.

I found Sam in the kitchen drying the last of some dishes he'd just washed. He greeted me and told me they'd left a plate of food for me before pointing it out. I thanked him and took a seat at the little table and began eating, the two of us surrounded by silence until I finished my breakfast and had cleaned up after myself.

"Where's Dean?" I asked finally, causing Sam to start in surprise at the sound.

"He's been up all morning working on making bullets out of those ashes," Sam told me, gesturing towards the door to the basement. "We should probably go see if he needs any help."

I nodded and followed after him. Halfway down the stairs Bobby called out and told us he'd be down in a moment.

Sure enough when we got into the basement, there was Dean hunched over a workbench surrounded by a handful of things, working diligently as ever.

"How's it coming?" Sam asked Dean as he took a few strides over towards him.

I kept my distance and leaned up against the banister, smiling at Bobby as he came down the stairs. He shot me a confused look and jerked his head in the direction of Sam. I just shrugged and turned my attention back to the brothers' backs.

"Five shells, that's how it's coming," Dean said gruffly, still entirely deep in concentration.

"Well," Sam said, "it's more than what we had last week."

Dean stopped his work abruptly and turned to look at his brother behind him. "Maybe."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, following beside Bobby over to the workbench.

Dean's mouth was set in a straight line, the look he got whenever he was frustrated. "I just had a little mishap a bit ago. And uh…well, here, look," he said, annoyed, as he slammed a pair of black gloves down onto the workbench.

The three of us stepped closer to see what Dean was doing as he reached his hand into a bowl of the ashes and picked some up and started rubbing it across his forearm. Sam started, bumping into me unintentionally as he did so due to all of our close proximity huddled together, and I felt my arm burning where his had touched mine long after.

"Whoa, what're you doing?" Sam said nervously.

Both Sam and Bobby relaxed beside me when Dean didn't burst into flames. In fact, nothing even happened. He just had a smear of ashes on his arm.

"Huh," Bobby grunted out in thought.

Dean shook his head. "This is supposed to burn the bajeezus out of Eve and it doesn't even give me sunburn."

"The lore says it works," Bobby told him.

Dean turned back around and continued working, muttering out a, "That's always reliable."

"Maybe it's like iron or sulfur. Or salt," I started, "You know? Hurts them but not us."

"Yeah maybe," Dean said, getting up suddenly to grab a clean towel to wipe the ash off of his arm. "But fat lot of good that does us until we find the evil bitch."

Bobby sighed and leant his back up against a wall. "I'm looking, but I'm thinking maybe it's about time you made a call."

Bobby, Sam and I all turned our attention expectantly at Dean. He paused mid-wiping of his arm and looked up at each of us in turn. He rolled his eyes at us.

"Why is it always me who has to make the call, huh?" Dean complained. "It's not like Cas lives in my ass. Dude's busy."

The moment Dean finished talking, Castiel appeared right behind him. He might have been just an inch distance from Dean's back and the closeness made Dean jump and take a few steps back.

"Cas get out of my ass!" Dean shot at the angel.

Castiel looked at him a little confused. "I was never…in your…" he said pausing and turning his head to the side, not really understanding. "Have you made any progress in locating Eve?" the angel asked, not even bothering to finish what he was previously saying.

The grin that had been on my face during their exchange disappeared now.

"We were just going to ask you about that," Bobby spoke up.

"No, I've looked but she's hidden from me," Castiel informed us. "She's hidden from all angels."

Dean threw up his hands and tossed the towel he'd been holding onto the floor in annoyance. "Awesome."

"You know," Sam started, pushing his hands into his pockets, "What we really need is an inside man."

Dean shot his brother a look. "What do you mean?"

"Something with claws and sympathy," Sam clarified.

"I don't think Lassie is going to be of any use to us," I said sarcastically.

Dean turned on his heel to me, a giant grin on his face as he let out a chuckle. "Look whose on the ball today!"

Bobby mumbled out 'idjiots' from across the room, but I saw him grinning. Sam had a half smile on his face before it quickly vanished.

"So you want to find a friendly monster?" Dean asked, turning back to Sam.

"Yeah," Sam said simply.

Dean shot him a look of disbelief. "Those are kind of in short supply nowadays, don't you think?"

"Sure, but we have met one or two," Sam reminded him. "So…maybe we can find one."

We all exchanged looks before Castiel spoke up.

"I think I know where I can find one," he deadpanned.

Before any one of us had a chance to ask him what he was doing, he was gone in a mild flutter of wings.

"I really hate it when he does that," Dean grumbled.


	36. Chapter 36

**Once again I appreciate all the reviews! There's either going to be just one or two more chapters to this story and then it's done. But don't worry! There will be a sequel for the season that's currently on right now. **

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><p>I wanted more than anything for a chance to talk to Sam, alone, and figure out what was going on. But throughout Casitel's entire disappearance trying to find a friendly monster, I had no such luck. Dean and Sam had gone on with filling the shells with the phoenix's ashes while Bobby had brought down some maps. He placed everything around a table on the opposite side of the basement from the brothers and the two of us began pouring over everything.<p>

For quite awhile after he'd caught me up on what he'd marked on the maps, we flipped through a few books quietly. From across the basement I could make out low murmurs from the brothers, but I had no idea what they were saying. Something told me it was a continuation of the conversation they'd had last night, the one that lead to Dean shooting me concerned looks.

"What the hell is going on with them?" I finally asked Bobby, my voice just above a whisper.

His eyes slowly rose from the book in his hands to me. He looked a little startled at my sudden outburst.

"What do ya mean?" he asked me.

I closed the book I'd been holding and set it onto the table. I wasn't finding anything in there anyway.

"Sam has been acting weird around me since we got back, and those two keep having talks. They _never_ have conversations that look that serious without me. And Dean keeps shooting me these weird looks, like he's afraid of something. Or worried."

Slowly Bobby pulled the book away from his face. He glanced over his shoulder to see that in fact, they were doing that just now. He turned back to me with a shrug. "It's probably nothing."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Do you know something, Bobby Singer?"

"Does it look like I've got that good of hearing? I have no idea what those two are up to."

Castiel's sudden reappearance stopped both conversations in the basement cold. He wasn't alone, either. A woman was standing beside him nervously, and she looked somewhat familiar.

"Lenore!" Sam called out in recognition.

Startled at the sight of a group of hunters, she turned in the opposite direction but stopped when she ran right into me.

"Hey, calm down, we're not going to hurt you," I assured her as she took a few steps backwards.

"We're happy you're here, we could use your help," Sam added on gently.

Still nervous, she stood as far away from the group of us hunters as she could. I couldn't blame her either, she had no idea what was going on. And knowing Cas, he'd probably just grabbed her and brought her here without saying a word.

"It's been a long time," Dean spoke up. "You remember us?"

"I remember, your hunter friend almost killed me," she answered.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better," I told her in a lighter tone, hoping to calm her nerves, "he turned into a vampire and Sam chopped his head off."

"Yeah, with razor wire," Dean added in with a sick sort of amusement in his voice. "It was wicked."

Sam shot his brother a slightly disturbed look to which Dean just shrugged.

"Well that's something," Lenore said, no longer cowering up against the wall. "Why am I here? You said you needed my help?"

"We just need to talk to you," Sam told her gently.

She raised a brow in question but didn't say anything.

"About Eve," he added.

Lenore straightened up and a firm look crossed her features. "Eve? I have _nothing_ to say about Eve."

"You sure bout that?" Dean asked her roughly.

Her head snapped in his direction instantly. "I'm trying to stay away from her," she spoke between gritted teeth. "Believe me."

"Where's your nest?" Sam asked suddenly.

A softer look crossed her face now and her jaw unclenched. "Gone. They couldn't fight it anymore." Her eyes shifted to the ground as she went on. "It's her voice. In our heads. What it does to us," she growled out. Shaking her head she looked back up at Sam. "They left, started killing again."

"But you didn't," Sam noted.

"Don't look so impressed. I've been hiding in a basement. Not exactly living the high life."

I imagined that right there explained the condition she was in. She was dirty from head to toe, and it looked like she hadn't changed her clothes in quite awhile. Her face was smeared with dirt and her hair looked a little greasy.

"Everyone gives in," she said solemnly.

"So you've got this psychic twin connection going on right? So does that mean you know where mommy is camping out?" Dean spoke up, getting right to the point.

"You have got to be kidding me," Lenore said with a look of disbelief. "You want me to just tell you where she is? You know she could be listening in right now?"

Bobby shrugged. "So we don't have the element of surprise. That's never stopped us before."

Lenore shook her head. "You're crazy. I can't help you."

"Can't, or just won't?" I asked her.

"Look," Sam said, his sympathetic side taking over, "I can tell you still give a crap. You don't want to kill, and you don't want this entire planet dead."

"And you actually believe you can stop her?" Lenore asked in almost a mocking tone.

"Just tell us where she is," Sam coaxed.

Lenore paused for a moment and I wondered if she was going to answer him or not. To my surprise, she did.

"Grants Pass, Oregon. And now she knows you're coming."

"Well let's go see," Bobby said in a determined tone.

"Hold on," Lenore said urgently, "I didn't just tell you this out of the goodness of my heart. I need something."

"What?" Sam asked her a little hesitantly.

"Kill me."

Sam shook his head instantly.

"We'll lock you down until this whole thing is over," Dean assured her. "You'll be safe."

"It's not about that, you don't get it," Lenore told us. "I'm dangerous. I hear her voice all the time."

"But you're not dangerous, you're not like the rest of them," Sam reminded her.

"I'm _exactly_ like them," Lenore growled out. "I fed. I couldn't help it. She couldn't have been more than sixteen, Sam. And I'll do it again. I can't stop."

The way she was inching closer to him was making me itchy for something sharp enough to decapitate her with.

"Lenore-" Sam started, but was cut off by Castiel stepping forward.

A white light emitted from within her, it seemed to shoot straight out of her eyes and her open mouth. Her face caught fire for a moment before the white light disappeared and she fell to the floor. Stoney faced as ever, Castiel stepped backwards and let his left hand drop back at his side as if it had been there all along.

"We needed to move this along," was all he said in his defense when all four sets of eyes landed on him. "Grab whatever you need, I'll get us to Grants Pass, Oregon."

"You're not planning on doing that angel thing again are you? I really hate that," I told Cas.

Sam and Dean turned their attention to me, strange expressions on their faces. Dean was wearing that look again he'd been giving me since yesterday afternoon.

I couldn't stop myself now from finding out what was going on.

"What are those looks for?"

Dean looked over at his brother, waiting for him to speak up.

Sam cleared his throat awkwardly and didn't look directly at me when he spoke up. "I think you should sit this one out."

His words hung in the air as I took a moment to process what he'd just said.

"Why?" I barely choked out.

He raised a hand up nervously and scratched the back of his neck as he exhaled deeply.

"You think I can't do this?" I asked.

"I don't want you to get hurt," Sam told me honestly. "It's too risky, I don't want you to be there. We don't know if the lore is even going to be right about the phoenix ash."

I shook my head bitterly, feeling like he'd just slapped me. "But it's okay if you three go. It's okay if you three take the risk, but I have to sit this one out, huh?"

"Lis, please, don't be like that," Sam begged, taking a couple steps over to me and placing his hands on my shoulders.

I pulled out of his grasp roughly, which only deepened the frown on his face.

"You should probably head back to Illinois with your hunter friends. If Eve knows about our coming, it's safer for you with them," he told me gently.

"You want me to leave? Just like that?" I asked, barely above a whisper.

Sam shook his head. He was giving me a pleading look to just go along with it and not put up a fight. I glanced behind him to see Dean and Bobby trying to stay out of it.

"You both want me to leave too?" I asked to them.

"Yes," Dean said in an instant. "It's not safe."

"Bullshit, it's never safe!" I shot at him. "You know that!"

"Boys are right, Cali," Bobby spoke up suddenly. "You shouldn't be getting involved in this. Just come on back when it's all done."

I stood there feeling like the room was closing in on me.

"We just want you to be safe," Sam told me gently. "That's all."

"But this is what I do. I have your guys' backs!"

"Not this time, squirt," Dean said softly.

Bobby offered me an apologetic smile before he made his way up the stairs, Dean following after him with Castiel at his heels.

"I'm sorry, Lis."

"Just go," I whispered, not bothering to look at him.

Reluctantly he made his way back up the stairs to Bobby's living room. I collapsed into the chair I had been in earlier and listened to the noise on the floor above me. It only took a few minutes for them to gather everything they'd need. I faintly heard them tell Castiel they were ready to go, and I just barely heard the flutter of wings of their departure.

Before I knew it I was sitting alone in Bobby's house feeling so out of place and rejected. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed my third number on speed dial. I listened to it ring a few times before someone answered.

"Hey," the voice on the other end said, "What's up girly?"

"Is there still room for me at the house?" I asked Beth.

"You're coming back?" She asked in shock.

"I'll explain later. I'm leaving right now, I should be there in about ten hours. That alright?"

"Sure thing doll. You okay though?"

I exhaled and ran a hand through my hair slowly. "Yeah, I think so."


	37. Chapter 37

**Thanks for the reviews on that last chapter guys! =) I really appreciate it, they definitely motivate me to write and update more often!**

**This is also the last chapter of this story, there is a sequel I'm working on titled 'Always Chasing Safety' but it might not be out for a few days cause I have a busy weekend ahead of me. Hopefully this chapter creates enough suspense and questions to get you interested in the next story!**

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><p>With great effort I forced myself out of the front door of Bobby's house that had been uncomfortably silent for the last hour since everyone had left. I spent the last fifty-two minutes composing myself and gathering my few things together in the guest room I'd been sharing with Sam. Now I had the duffle bag slung over my shoulder and my car keys in my hand.<p>

I trudged my way solemnly to my car that I hadn't driven in weeks. There hadn't been a point with all the angel transportation or Dean driving the Impala. I opened the trunk and tossed my bag in there and made sure I had everything before getting into the driver's seat. Before I really hit the road I stopped for gas and grabbed myself a bottle of Mountain Dew. I wasn't looking forward to this ten hour trip.

To avoid being left with just my thoughts, I plugged my iPod into the stereo of my car and flipped around for something calming. I landed on a song by Rebelution and a slight smile crossed my lips as it began to play. Dean would have hated this song, which only made me turn it up. Tapping my fingers to the music as I made my way down the road, I pulled my aviators on and cleared my head.

I didn't make it to the house until a little after ten at night. All the cars were in the driveway so I assumed no one was out on a hunt. I parked and was so relieved when I was able to finally get out of the car and stretch my legs. They had been cramping up for the last couple hours and my ass felt numb.

I knocked hard on the front door but didn't have to wait long before Beth flung the door wide open and dragged me inside.

"We figured you'd be here around now, we've got some dinner warmed up for you. I know how much you love fettuccini, so you've got a huge plate waiting for you in the kitchen," Beth told me, wasting no time in dragging me over to the kitchen.

A chorus of greetings met my ears the moment I entered. Surrounding the table was the entire gang. Lily was sitting in Vick's lap and Megan was sitting across the table with Matt. Beers were scattered around the table and sure enough there was a spot set up for me with a plate of food just like Beth had told me. I couldn't help but realize how much I'd missed being here with all of them. Sam and Dean were always hunting some big monster and things sometimes got pretty tense with them. But here, they never dealt with the apocalypse or any of that. It was always a fun, carefree atmosphere.

"Look who finally decided to show up!" Vick called out to me.

"Sit down, eat! I'm sure you drove straight here," Megan told me, getting up and ushering me into the chair. "We've been waiting for you to finally get here."

"You guys didn't have to do this for me!" I told them, picking up the fork before Megan started feeding me herself.

The dinner was delicious and I don't think I could have inhaled it any faster. My stomach was full and finally content. We decided to spend the rest of the night throwing back a few beers and catching up, but slowly, one by one, everyone headed off for bed the later it got. Eventually it was just Beth and I sitting in the kitchen, sipping on the last of our beers.

"So they just told you to come here instead of help them?" Beth asked, summing up what I'd just finished telling her.

I nodded my head. "Yup," I told her. "Just like that. Now I'm going to blame myself if anything bad happens. I should have been there, they need me."

Beth shot me an apologetic look from across the table. "They will be fine, Cal."

"They haven't called me yet. I can't imagine that they're still working the case. So now I'm wondering if this was some scheme to get rid of me," I said bitterly. Deep down I knew that wasn't really true.

"Then why don't you go call them?"

I sat there for a moment, contemplating the idea. They should be finished with the hunt now, and if they didn't answer then I was pretty sure it gave me enough right to make my way immediately to Oregon and find them.

"I think I will," I said finally.

The two of us quickly downed the rest of our drinks and tidied up the kitchen a bit. Beth said she was heading off to sleep and that I could just crash on my old bed when I decided to sleep. I told her goodnight and then headed outside and pulled my cell phone from my pocket. Quickly I dialed Dean's phone from speed dial, not really wanting to talk to Sam. Admittedly I felt a little guilty for the way I'd acted, but it had hurt to be left out of that hunt just like that.

The phone kept on ringing for awhile and I got nervous, wondering if anyone was even going to answer before it hit voicemail. Thankfully after quite a few rings, the phone was answered.

"Hey Cali," Dean's voice greeted not all too enthusiastic.

"How'd everything go?" I asked a little hesitantly.

I heard Dean sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Well the phoenix ash worked like a charm. Thing is…turns out Crowley isn't dead."

Sitting there for a moment, I let that soak in.

"I thought Cas burned his bones?"

"Dammit, he can make a mistake!" Dean growled.

I frowned at his tone. "What crawled up your ass?"

"Nothing," Dean responded a little too quickly.

I narrowed my eyes even though he couldn't see me doing so. Something was up. "So why don't you guys tell me where to meet up and I can help you track Crowley down?"

His response came too quickly again. "No, stay there."

"Now I can't help but think you're not telling me something, Dean," I said, getting a little irritated.

"You're just safer where you're at," he told me gruffly. "For everyone's sakes, just stay put."

"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" I pried.

There was a silence on the other end of the line and that confirmed my suspicions.

"Just tell me and I promise I'll stay put," I begged, wondering how bad it could be.

"I'll explain later. Just make sure you have some salt near you for the next few days. And that demon knife you always carry around. Is the house devil trapped?" Dean asked in a serious voice which only started to worry me.

"Yes, why?"

"Don't leave the house until I call you again and tell you to come back, got it?" he said sternly.

"You're freaking me out a bit, Dean," I admitted.

"Good," was all he said before hanging up on me.

Annoyed, I hung up my phone and stuffed it back into my pocket. Deciding I should at least heed his warnings, I headed around to the front of the house and over to my car. Opening up the trunk, I dug around through the bags in the back until I found the one I wanted. I slung it over my shoulder and made my way back up to the front door, occasionally looking over my shoulder. The silence was beginning to make me nervous after that phone call. I didn't know what to expect and I really hoped I wasn't putting anyone in danger here.

I made my way into the kitchen and opened one of the top cabinets that I knew was always stocked full with giant containers of salt. I grabbed one and began salting different entry points of the house, including all the windows. Beth at one point woke up to use the bathroom and saw what I was doing. Without a word she grabbed a container herself and started helping me. The process ended up taking about an hour and a half but I felt a little better afterwards. Mildly satisfied, I found the knife in my bag that was known to drop demons like flies and headed into the room I shared with Beth, finally crawling into bed. I kept the knife under my pillow within easy reach if anything were to get past our defenses in the middle of the night.

As much as I wanted to fall asleep, I couldn't. I hated not knowing what to expect. What was worse was, this was all I could do until Dean called me again, whenever that would be. I didn't have a clue what was going on, or what I might be in danger from.

I did know one thing—there was nothing I could do. So I laid there in bed, eyes wide open and my fingers gently tracing the hilt of my knife, until the sun rose.


End file.
